


Make it Fall

by Aria_Cinabun



Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, DreamSMP - Freeform, Eret wants his redemption arc, Gen, I legit regret nothing, Niki is sad, Retelling, The election, Tommy wants to see Tubbo again, Tubbo is lonely, Violence, War, Wilbur doesn't trust anybody, dream team, sleepy bois inc - Freeform, this is nothing like what happens except for the first day, yes phil is here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27345517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Cinabun/pseuds/Aria_Cinabun
Summary: Tommy thought that an election would make things better. That the power would be passed on to someone else. That he could rest with the former leaders of the country they'd created and finally be free from the duty of regimes. He was only sixteen, after all. After everything he'd done...freed a country, dueled the leader of the bordering country, the one they'd separated from in the first place, been Vice President, led others to victory...didn't he deserve a break? Didn't he deserve to rest?The world laughed in his face.Yup, just another average election fic. Except it's not average, because it was written by me, Aria_Cinabun, and when things are written by me, they're full of twists and turns and unknowns. Get ready to jump onto the rocket ship, because this ride is gonna be a big one...
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit & Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Eret & Niki | Nihachu, Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 123
Kudos: 408





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tommy thought that an election would make things better. That the power would be passed on to someone else. That he could rest with the former leaders of the country they'd created and finally be free from the duty of regimes. He was only sixteen, after all. After everything he'd done...freed a country, dueled the leader of the bordering country, the one they'd separated from in the first place, been Vice President, led others to victory...didn't he deserve a break? Didn't he deserve to rest?  
> The world laughed in his face.
> 
> Tubbo's allegiance was to his country. Not the people, his country. To L'Manburg. Sure, his best friend was Tommy, and he was good friends with Wilbur as well, whom he looked up to like an older brother, but first and foremost, his fidelity was to L'Manburg, and nobody else. Still, his hesitation, when it came to the new president, was there. And that bothered him, because he had promised that his loyalty would be to L'Manburg, no matter the leader.  
> It wasn't supposed to end like this. 
> 
> Eret regretted betraying L'Manburg in the first Revolutionary War. He lamented throwing his friendships away for power. As the peace had continued between the two countries, he had breathed a bit easier, and had slowly sidled closer to his old friends. Sure, maybe not Wilbur or Tommy - he did deserve that - but with Fundy and Niki and Tubbo. He spoke to them often. He felt a glow in his chest that those three had at least forgiven him. Sometimes he felt like he did not deserve forgiveness. But watching the election, and the injustice that followed, he knew he had to do something. For even though he was on Dream's side, there was something wrong about taking away everything that his old friends had fought for, had been hurt for, had nearly died for.  
> Maybe this was his chance at redemption.

He'd cheered too early, and celebrated too hastily. 

He'd accepted too quickly, and had rejoiced too soon. 

So when Wilbur had announced that Quackity and Schlatt had come together, their votes counting as one - meaning that  _ they  _ had won the L'Manburg election, he was shocked more than anything.

And then he thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. That maybe he'd get a break and get to relax while his friends; to remain lax while someone took over the job of Vice President - he wasn't sure if it was Quackity and George who would take up that position, and it wasn't really his decision anymore. Sure, he didn't have power anymore, but honestly - after the Revolutionary War against the Dream SMP, he was tired of being in charge. Of being in charge of so many lives. Luckily, they hadn't lost anybody - they'd nearly lost  _ him _ , but he had survived, with only a thick scar that pained him over his heart. 

He tried not to let it bother him.

Maybe Schlatt would make L'Manburg a better place. 

He sat in the crowd, on the grass, with Wilbur by his side - there weren't enough chairs for him, but he didn't really care. He watched as the man he had once considered his hero took the spot that had once belonged to his older brother.

Wilbur was silent. 

Schlatt cleared his throat and tapped his mic. 

The crowd was respectfully - or in shock, more likely - silent. 

"Well," Schlatt said after a moment. "That was pretty easy." 

He heard Eret and Quackity laugh, but Tommy was far too much in shock to say or do anything. 

_ They had lost. They had lost to Schlatt. _

"And you know what I said?" Schlatt continued. "The day I came here, to the DreamSMP, after being kicked from its borders so many years ago? And the day that I said I was running - which I won, by the way?" 

Once, Tommy would have looked up to Schlatt. Not now. Now, there was a slimy feeling worming its way down his spine. He tried his hardest not to shout.

Schlatt had won fair and square. 

And now Tommy and Wilbur sat with the citizens of both DreamSMP and L'Manburg, waiting with bated breath, for what was to come. 

"I said things are gonna change."

He didn't like this. And by the white lines, as Wilbur clenched his fists, he knows his older brother doesn't like it either. He hoped it was a change for the good - but then again, Schlatt had always been unpredictable. Once upon a time, the silver-tongued businessman had been the person he'd looked up to. Now he saw that the person that stood before him - nay, the  _ President of L'Manburg _ \- was nothing more than a tyrant. 

"I looked every citizen of L'Manburg in the eyes, and I said...you listen to me. This place'll be a lot different tomorrow." Schlatt's eyes stopped on Tommy for a second before roving back over the crowd.

He felt like he was going to hyperventilate. Something was  _ wrong,  _ he could feel it coming. Schlatt was right. Things  _ were  _ going to change.

He knew it wasn't going to be for the better. 

"My first decree, as the President of L'Manburg," Schlatt said, and now Tommy  _ knew  _ that the businessman was staring at him and Wilbur, and he didn't like it  _ one bit _ . "The EMPEROR! OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY!"

"The fuck...?" Wilbur muttered under his breath, leaning closer, a hand covering his mouth as he stroked his chin, lost in thought. Tommy desperately hoped that this was all a dream, that they hadn't just put a  _ dictator  _ in the chair of  _ his country _ . 

"IS TO REVOKE THE CITIZENSHIP OF WILBUR SOOT AND TOMMY INNIT!" 

Nobody seemed to like that.

Tubbo screamed out something that he couldn't hear over the roaring of the crowd. He shrunk on his position on the grass; could feel the eyes on him as he became noticed - not as the Vice President of L'Manburg. He wasn't even of  _ L'Manburg  _ anymore. Niki shouted something as well, her normally quiet voice rising to a scream.

"Yes, baby,  _ yes _ !" Schlatt roared through the microphone, his voice echoing out over the crowd and silencing them all. 

Through the horde of people, Tommy saw Punz and Ponk shouldering through the crowd, their crossbows loaded.

"GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" Schlatt shouted. "YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME IN L'MANBURG!"

He was in shock.

He didn't know what to do or say. 

He didn't know how to feel. 

"Tommy, RUN!" Wilbur screamed, and Tommy dodged a crossbow bolt shot by Ponk, who calmly reloaded and took aim.

He turned tail and ran at the heels of  _ his  _ President, shoving people aside. People parted for them, some of them looking at him with pity, others with anger - blindly following Schlatt down their path into totalitarianism. He saw Eret, the old traitor, with his stupid king's crown, look forward in anger - to his surprise, not at  _ him _ , but at the person that stood above everyone else, the self-proclaimed emperor. 

He burst into the open field and ran for the forest, quickly catching up to the older man. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw Tubbo standing at the edge of the crowd, Schlatt at his shoulder. The  _ President of L'Manburg _ was whispering something in the ear of his best friend, and his vision went red with anger before Wilbur tugged him onwards, directing his attention towards one thing - survival. 

The echoing laughter of Schlatt's voice was all he heard as he and Wilbur ran through the borders of L'Manburg, and into the desolate forest. 

* * *

Tubbo's allegiance, first and foremost, had always been to his country. He put his country before himself, before his friends, before  _ anything _ , because that was what was most important to him - the lands and the people that he had fought for. 

But now he was wavering. 

Because he saw Tommy glance at him before Wilbur grabbed the arm of his best friend and tugged him into the forest, out of sight. 

Now he was wavering.

Because Schlatt wasn't a president. Didn't support democracy. Schlatt was a  _ dictator. _ Schlatt didn't want what was best for L'Manburg - he wanted what was best for him _ self _ . Schlatt craved power, and they were just standing there and giving it to him. 

"Until further notice," Schlatt proclaimed, his voice loud next to Tubbo's ears. "Wilbur Soot and Tommy Innit are nothing more than a memory. A relic - a relic of the past."

"Yes sir," Quackity said gleefully, and Tubbo was torn from shouting at the smooth-faced man and wanting to cry. 

"A  _ reminder _ ," Schlatt continued. "Of the darkest era this country has ever seen." Tubbo could feel looks upon him as he gazed over the forest that his best friend had disappeared into.

What a nightmare. 

"And I guarantee you all, dear citizens," the President said. "Tonight, that changes."

Tubbo felt sick. 

"We are entering into a new period of L'Manburg. A period - of  _ prosperity _ ! Of STRENGTH! Of unity."

"Yessir," Quackity parroted, and Tubbo saw Niki's fists clench as she shook with silent rage, hiding it far worse than Tubbo was. 

His civic duty as Secretary of Defense was to go order the troops to hunt his friends down. Schlatt hadn't replaced him.

Tubbo sort of wished that he had. It would make things far easier.

He was teetering at the edge of insanity, and he was debating throwing himself into the pot. He wanted to throw up. 

Eret didn't look very happy, either, which was surprising, considering he had betrayed them in the Revolutionary War. Fundy had a neutral expression on his face - considering the fact his  _ father  _ had just had his citizenship removed, Tubbo got the feeling the two had gotten into another one of their fights. Niki had tears streaking down her face, and looked like she was about to pounce on Schlatt and stab him. George looked neutral as well, though he followed Quackity and George back to the stage as they prepared for the  _ presidential  _ speech. Punz and Ponk shouldered their crossbows and went back to their positions at the front of the stage, where they'd been before they'd tried to murder Tommy and Wilbur. 

Tubbo just felt sick.

When Schlatt beckoned him up on the stage, what was he supposed to do except listen? Schlatt was his president. He was  _ legally obligated _ , as a government position, to follow the higher-ups. He was sixteen. He was  _ sixteen _ , why was he the Secretary of Defense, why was he here - 

_ Wilbur believed in him. Tommy believed him. _

Neither of them were here, now. They had both been banished. 

So with a heavy heart, he climbed up on stage and stood next to the new president - Schlatt, who was currently watching as Fundy connected the microphone to the radio station so it could broadcast all over the nations. Fundy continued to work, humming some tune under his breath as Niki glared at the person that they had all once called a friend, now on the side of the evil dictator. 

"Tommy?" he whispered, so low that nobody could hear him. Tommy wasn't here anymore. Tommy wasn't anywhere. He didn't know why he was saying the name of his best friend. 

"CAN WE GIVE IT UP FOR NO MORE WILBUR SOOT AND TOMMY INNIT?" Schlatt roared, so loud that Tubbo winced. He didn't want to be here. He  _ did not want to be here _ , but his civic duty was to his nation, to his president, and Schlatt was his president. 

Schlatt grinned. "I was gettin' tired of 'em anyway." 

Tubbo heard Fundy and Quackity and George laugh, but he could only muster a small smirk as Niki and Eret stared up at him, side-by-side with horror. 

What was he supposed to do? Walk away from this job?

He turned away and stood off to the side next to Jack, who gave him an odd look. Tubbo shrugged, and Jack turned his attention back to Schlatt, who was drinking in the very low amount of cheering that was currently going on. He pulled out his communicator and typed out one very quick word before shoving it back into his pocket.

** <Tubbo_> ** _ Tommy? _

He waited for the telltale buzz of the communicator to make him feel better.

There was nothing.

"Tubbo!" Schlatt said with a wide grin, shaking him out of his stupor. "Tubbo, get over here." 

"Uh," he muttered stupidly, feeling the eyes begin to train onto him. 

"Come on, Tubbo," Schlatt said, sounding nice, and he almost fell for it - before remembering the many times that Tommy had stated that Schlatt could convince anyone to do anything.

"You're the Secretary of Defense," Schlatt said as Tubbo walked across the stage, feeling small and tiny compared to the new President of L'Manburg. 

"Am - am I?" he said with a stutter, hoping that Schlatt would fire him so he had an excuse to run into the forest. 

"Yeah, I think you've always been that," Schlatt said calmly, making Tubbo's heart drop further. He risked a glance into his pocket to see his communicator buzzing like crazy, Niki's messages lighting up the small screen.

** <Nihachu> ** _ DONT DO IT _

** <Nihachu> ** _ DONT DO IT _

** <Nihachu> ** _ DONT DO IT _

He ignored it. "I - I didn't know I got to keep - "

"Well, I'm not going to fire you," Schlatt said, clapping him across the back sharply. "I mean, you're Tubbo. What - what am I, going to fire Tubbo?"

"Uh," he managed to say with sort of a strangled sound. "Okay." 

"TUBBO'S BETRAYAL!" Eret shouted from the crowd -  _ Eret, of all people -  _ and Niki glared at him, and he  _ really  _ wanted to cry, but he couldn't move from Schlatt's side, because this was his  _ president _ , and this was his duty as Secretary of Defense; a lifelong position until removed by the president himself. 

** <Nihachu> ** _ we have to stick together here _

He couldn't answer as he faced the many hundreds of people in the crowd, most of which were glaring at him. 

"As my Secretary of Defense," Schlatt continued. "As my  _ right-hand man  _ of L'Manburg - "

He really was going to faint. This was a really bad dream. This had to be. This couldn't be  _ real _ . 

" - I need you to do something for me, Tubbo," Schlatt continued in a lower voice. 

"What, Mr. President?" he said, the words falling out of his mouth; words he was as hapless to stop as water is stopped falling from a waterfall. 

"I need you to  _ find Tommy _ ."

No. No, he couldn't do this, he  _ couldn't do this _ , Tommy was his  _ best friend _ \- 

"And I need you to show him the door." Schlatt eyed him. "Rumor has it he's somewhere around. I know you have his number. Call him."

"Wha - now?"

"Yes, now." 

His hands seemed to move of their own accord as he pulled out his communicator and shakily pressed Tommy's contact number. His friend answered on the second ring. "Tommy?"

"Tubbo?"

His friend's voice sounded harried, and he did  _ not  _ like the quietness that befell the crowd. 

"Tommy, I'm going to need you to come back." The words felt thick in his mouth, like a toothpaste made of concrete. 

There was a bit of silence.

"Wilbur - Wilbur, we've got to go." Tommy wasn't even talking to him. "Wilbur - come, come with me - " His voice cut off suddenly, though they were still on the call. 

"Tubbo," Schlatt said in a low voice. "Get them over here, Tubbo." 

"Tubbo,  _ no _ ," Tommy said, his voice sounding full of heartbreak.

"Tommy, I'm going to need you to come back," he repeated at barely a whisper, blinking quickly to dispel the forming tears. This was his duty. Tommy and Wilbur were enemies, they were evading the orders of the president. They were  _ his  _ enemy, as he was the Secretary of Defense. 

"No, Tubbo, Tubbo -  _ NO! _ " Tommy's cry rang out through the communicator that he held loosely in his hands. He didn't want to do this.

His president had ordered him to do so, and so he would. 

"Surely you're not breaking the law?" Schlatt called, raising his voice so that the communicator would pick up Tubbo. "That's the Secretary of Defense you're speaking to." 

"You're still bound by the constitution, Tommy, I must remind you," Quackity said.

Tommy had already hung up. 

"Actually they're not," he said thickly. "They're not citizens of L'Manburg, they're not in L'Manburg anymore either, so the constitution - "  _ That Wilbur drafted and wrote while the war raged around us.  _ " - doesn't apply to them."

Schlatt stared at him, his eyes growing cold. "I gave you an order, Tubbo, and I want you to follow it."

"Effective immediately," Quackity piped up helpfully.

Tubbo set his teeth in a straight line and walked off the stage, grabbing his sword and his armor pieces, placing them onto his body as he left the crowd behind.

He was the Secretary of Defense.

He ordered Punz and Ponk to spread out and call in if they spotted anything in the forest out of place.

He was the Secretary of Defense.

He went into the forest himself, his message to Tommy left open and on read. He nicked some food from Niki, who stared at him as he walked past, an unreadable expression on her face, her hands clasped in front of her dyed purple revolution uniform. 

There were ears everywhere, so they didn't exchange a word.

He received a message from her when he was about a mile into the woods alone. 

** <Nihachu> ** _ this cant be true _

** <Tubbo_> ** _ it is... _

** <Nihachu> ** _ WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING _

** <Tubbo_> ** _ not possable there is a new administration _

** <Nihachu> ** _ i don't care _

** <Tubbo_> ** _ the laws of the land do _

** <Nihachu> ** _ i will nit be satisfied with this _

** <Nihachu> ** _ NO! _

He left that message unanswered, deleting it from his history.

He was the Secretary of Defense.

This was his civic duty. 

They were his enemies.

And he would do what was right, because L'Manburg came first. He knew that the moment he had been sworn into his position. 

* * *

Eret regretted betraying L'Manburg in the Revolutionary War. He'd done it for power the many months prior it had been, and he'd sorely regretted it. The loneliness had nearly gotten to him. Sure, his position in history was confirmed - but from the history of L'Manburg, he was the second main villain, alongside Dream. 

Now he felt like Schlatt was ruining everything he'd once stood for. He'd once been of L'Manburg - and without Tommy and Wilbur there, and with Tubbo taking Schlatt's side, however reluctantly, he felt like it was his duty to step up and fight for L'Manburg when nobody would.

Still, he was silent as he watched Tubbo leave after speaking to Ponk and Punz. Niki gave him a small look, and he was happy to find that he still had her as an ally, though Fundy seemed to have taken Schlatt's side as well in this conflict - probably just to rebel against his father. 

They met up in a presidential circle behind the podium. Him, Niki, Quackity, George, Jack, Fundy, Bad, and Hbomb. 

"I'm scared," Hbomb muttered to him as the two leaned against the wall.

"Don't be," Eret said, a small smile poking through his usually stoic mask. 

Actually, Hbomb had every right to be. It was his first time in this country - he hadn't even voted - and what he was seeing was an election, and hopefully, a revolution. As much as Wilbur and Tommy disliked Eret, he didn't despise them. He  _ had  _ betrayed them - they had every right to be angry. 

"Eret, I hope you're not mad," Schlatt said. "We're gonna completely gut this place." He pointed towards the black and yellow house that stood in the middle of the small lake within the inner walls - the original area of L'Manburg, its  _ original  _ walls, before they'd expanded. 

"I betrayed L'Manburg before," he said, trying not to leap at the silver-tongued president and stab him through the back with the sword that was strapped to his side. He did not doubt that Punz would shoot him full of arrows before he could move. 

"Oh, did you?"

"Yeah!" He really didn't feel the words that he said, but he was trying to convince Schlatt here. Niki and Fundy nodded in unison. There was a bit of silence. 

"You know what?" Schlatt said suddenly.

"Yeah?" he said, hope rising in his chest for Tommy and Wilbur. He saw Niki's face light up. 

"Oh - effective immediately?" Quackity said. 

"I'm gonna make another speech," Schlatt decided, sauntering back towards the podium. "Fundy, get the radio hooked up, would you?"

"Yeah, of course," the orange-hared man replied, a gleeful look on his face as he scampered towards the many wires and cords that Eret did not understand. He heard Niki give a small huff of disbelief, and nudged her reassuringly. He stood in the small crowd - most of it had dispersed - with her and watched as Schlatt tested his microphone, waiting for Fundy to give the thumbs-up.

When the son of the former president did, Schlatt spoke in his echoing voice that rang through the microphone - instead this time, it filled the homes that were tuned into the radio.

"PEOPLE OF L'MANBURG!" Eret hated that voice. He really hated it. If you didn't know Schlatt, it sounded like the slimy businessman had your own welfare in mind. Except he didn't. "...and Tommy Innit and Wilbur Soot." Another awkward pause as Eret once again debated just marching up there and murdering the president, though that wouldn't be ethically right - and besides, he would die far before he would ever reach that point. 

Schlatt had  _ no right _ . None at all. Tommy and Wilbur had put aside their freedom and put themselves on the line to separate themself from the land known as the DreamSMP. They had done everything - they did not deserve an ending like this. Eret might not be part of L'Manburg anymore, but he respected the two, especially the sixteen-year-old that had the guts to challenge Dream. Sure, Tommy had lost, but in the end, that fight had led to further negotiation, which in turn had led to freedom and emancipation from the DreamSMP. 

Schlatt had no right to throw the two most important people in L'Manburg's history away. Wilbur had been the one to  _ call  _ for an election because he believed in democracy.

Schlatt just wanted absolute power.

And if Eret knew anything himself, it was that absolute power corrupted absolutely. 

Schlatt sighed loudly, ever the actor. "The sun sets over another beautiful day in our country." True enough, it had just reached sunset. "The sun will rise with another chapter - the next  _ page _ of the textbook that children will be reading 'til the end of time."  _ Oh, get a load of that. _ The only thing that would be listed in non-biased textbooks was how much a tyrant Schlatt was, and no doubt, would be. "I reckon our nation needs to expand. I reckon we've done our country a great disservice." Quackity nodded eagerly. "I reckon...we take down the walls."

"NO!" Niki screamed, and he grabbed her arm to hold her back from jumping at Schlatt. 

"What?" he shouted over the noise. " _ What _ ?"

_ He  _ had built those walls with Tubbo. They belonged to L'Manburg, but he had such good memories of those walls. They were beautiful and intricately carved and they had protected his friends from harm. 

"You can't do that," he said. 

"EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!" Schlatt roared, his voice silencing any cries of dissent. "I AM LAUNCHING A PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT - funded by our meth lab - " This with a quick dip to Quackity, who nodded. " - ALL CITIZENS OF L'MANBURG - "

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THAT, SCHLATT!" Niki screamed, managing to interrupt Schlatt, even with his microphone. "NO RIGHT! NO RIGHT AT ALL!" 

"I have every right," Schlatt said, staring right at the girl next to Eret, who stood strong against his fierce gaze. "I am, after all, the president, am I not?" Niki had no response to that, going silent, even as tears streaked down her face and she shook with an effort. "All citizens of L'Manburg are required to help tear down the walls of this country." A small pause. "Thus ends the presidential speech." Fundy scampered over and pressed a few buttons on the mess of wires, and nodded to Schlatt.

Schlatt's face split into a wide smirk, full of anger and hatred and leaving no room for argument.

" _ Make it fall. _ "


	2. Chapter 2

Wilbur switched off the radio in the small cave that they were in - with only a meager supply of food and a makeshift door and two small sleeping bags that they'd escaped with.

Tommy felt his communicator buzz, and he drew it out reluctantly and stared at it. "Tubbo messaged me 'help'." He looked up at Wilbur. "How do I know he's not just saying that to make me go back, Wilbur?" 

Wilbur snorted. "Oh, he's  _ definitely  _ saying that to make you go back," he said blithely. "Remember the phone call?"

Tommy shivered against the cave wall. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." He'd heard Schlatt in the background as well.  _ Schlatt _ . Who'd he'd once looked up to.  _ Schlatt _ . Who he'd pestered Dream to let back through the borders, because he'd considered Schlatt a friend. 

"My son is tearing down the walls," Wilbur said softly, realization entering his tone. "My son is tearing down the walls of L'Manburg. The walls I build to keep him safe. I promised him this world, Tommy." Tommy was silent; he'd never seen Wilbur cry before, not like this, not even in the Revolutionary War. "I promised him I could give him a life where we could feel safe, and now he is tearing that world down."

"Wilbur," Tommy said. "Wilbur, I'm so sorry." Sure, Fundy was adopted, but he knew that  _ that  _ didn't mean anything to Wilbur.

There was a bit of silence, save for the crackling campfire. Tommy felt the darkness wash over him as the last rays of sunlight shining through the cracks in the poorly made door disappeared, and he shivered.

_ "I've heard there was a special place..."  _

Wilbur sang softly under his breath the song that he had sung when they'd all been there, in the corner of L'Manburg - even Eret, peering through the walls, at the end of the war. 

" _ Where men could go and emancipate..."  _

He looked up at Tommy, who didn't want to interrupt the music that was bouncing off the walls, reminding him of the times that Wilbur sang after the war and everyone was safe. 

_ "The brutality and the tyranny of their rulers... _

_ Well, this place is real, you needn't fret _

_ With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, fuck Eret - " _

That part, however, failed to make Tommy smile like it usually did, and Wilbur gave him a tight-lipped look as he paused where the usual laughter occurred. 

" _ It's a very big and half-blown up L'Manburg." _

Tommy could tell when the shift in Wilbur's tone changed, then.

_ "My L'Manburg... _

_ "My L'Manburg... _

_ "My L'Manburg..." _

He couldn't help but join in.

" **_ My L'Manburg. _ ** _ " _

There was silence as the song faded out. Tommy knew his singing voice wasn't really all that good, but couldn't even find the strength to beat himself up over it as he stared into the flickering flames of the dying fire, Wilbur's hair hanging loosely in the air as the older man dipped his head, though whether out of respect or defeat, Tommy didn't really know.

The door exploded inwards, and Tommy grabbed his sword, jumping up and spinning to face two figures in the doorway - one, in the back, and the shorter, carrying a lantern that illuminated his bright blue eyes and blonde hair covered in a white and green hat, and the second, far more recognizable, with pink hair and brown eyes and a very distinctive sword strapped across his back. 

"Did someone say rebellion?" Technoblade said.

* * *

"Let's get to work," Schlatt said evilly, rubbing his hands together. Tubbo had just returned to the podium, having listened from his pocket radio. 

"Let's get to work!" Quackity echoed, and Tubbo saw Eret have to  _ drag  _ Niki back from jumping any of the people that came down from the stage, Ponk, and Punz - also having returned - rushing to hand out pickaxes. Tubbo blinked as he received his own, wrapping his fingers around the unfamiliar wood handle of the pickaxe. 

"Come on!" Schlatt shouted. "We're gonna tear down the walls of L'Manburg! We're gonna do it!"

"Tear down the walls!" Quackity repeated. 

"Oh, stop being such a fucking parrot," Tubbo heard Eret mutter as the self-proclaimed king of the DreamSMP walked up with his own pickaxe. 

Schlatt and Quackity didn't hear him. "We can be much better than this!" Schlatt said. "I don't know why they built walls in the first place."

_ To protect us from tyrannical rulers like  _ **_ you _ ** _.  _

He didn't know where that thought came from, and he gritted his teeth and swung the pickaxe at the wall, watching as the blackstone that he and Eret had so carefully gathered splintered under his well-placed hit. With every hit of the pickaxe, his heart hurt more than his shoulders. His arms hurt, yeah, but he  _ deserved  _ that. For what he was doing. He slowly saw as the others followed his lead, though Niki resolutely stayed back, her arms crossed. 

Eret stepped back towards Niki after a moment, talking to her slowly under his breath, and she gave a small angry huff as he leaned on his pickaxe, continuing to talk to her. 

The moment he paused...

"Tubbo, tear down these goddamn walls," Schlatt said, making him yelp and jump. He hadn't even known the president had been watching him. He didn't like that the president had been watching him. 

"Schlatt, I really don't..." he trailed off at the warning look that entered the eyes of the businessman. Niki started shouting in the background, her heartfelt words that Tubbo couldn't comprehend spurring him on. "Schlatt, I don't - "

Schlatt hit him across the shoulder, making him yell in pain and stumble back into Eret, who caught him and helped him upright, an unreadable expression on his face.

His arm aching, Tubbo dutifully started tearing at the wall once more. 

"IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA FIND WILBUR SOOT AND TOMMY INNIT, YOU MINUS WELL MAKE YOURSELF HELPFUL!" Schlatt screamed at him, making him wince. He mined deeper into the wall, the dust from the rock and stone helping hide the tears that slowly slid down his face from the bruise that was no doubt forming on his collarbone. 

"This wall comes down," Schlatt snarled in the following silence. "Make. It. Fall."

* * *

Eret saw the tears in Tubbo's eyes as the sixteen-year-old went right back at it, like he always did, rebounding in silence and misery, despair and defeat radiating off him. Eret was thankful he didn't have his sword on him, for surely he would have ended up dead trying to retaliate for Tubbo. Niki stood off to the side, and he could see that she missed her communicator - she'd broken it four days previously when she'd gone up to hang the L'Manburg flag she'd sewn, a wonderful feat in of itself - but had sadly ended in the dropping and shattering of her precious communicator. He wondered if she wanted to contact Wilbur - wow, that was a stupid question. Of course, she did. It was a pity that communicators only worked with their designated person - otherwise, he would have let her borrow his. 

"Mr. President," Quackity said, sounding a tiny bit unsure as he watched the walls slowly crumble, Niki and Eret refusing to help. "This is...uh..." Eret smiled a bit in horrifying victory at the man who was wavering at the destruction in front of him - that he and Niki could do nothing about. He was sure that Tubbo didn't want to either, but Tubbo was sixteen, and the Secretary of Defense, and Eret wasn't sure whose side Tubbo was on, though he had an idea. "So you're sure about all this?" 

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah?" 

"Can - can I have a say in this?" Quackity asked hopefully, jumping aside as a huge section of the wall fell inwards with a deafening crash. 

"I mean," Schlatt said slowly. "I'm not gonna care...you-you sure can try." 

Eret walked around the wall - the untouched portion of it - and saw the signs that talked about not touching the wall. "I would like to remind you of these signs, Schlatt," he said loudly. 

"Oh no," Quackity groaned. 

"These signs over here, which have been in place ever since the war was first threatened," he continued. 

Schlatt wandered over, narrowing his eyes at the four signs in place. "'If you break these signs then you hate your pets'," he read slowly. And then snorted. "Sounds like a load of bullshit to me." Eret winced. "Tubbo, come here for a second." 

Tubbo wandered over, his circles on his eyes looking even deeper - if that was possible, because it hadn't even been five minutes since Eret last saw him, and besides, it was dark out save for the many flickering lanterns and torches; the kid was probably tired. "What is it, Mr. President?" 

Schlatt put a hand on Tubbo's shoulder, and Eret saw the smaller boy wince yet  _ again _ , for that was the same shoulder that the man had hit before. "Listen, Tubbo, you know you're my right-hand man, right?" 

Silence.

"...yes, Schlatt?" 

"So you'd do anything I request of you, right," Schlatt continued, and it's not really a question, and Eret  _ really  _ wanted to beat the shit out of him for gaslighting the poor sixteen-year-old boy who looks like he's half torn between accepting his defeat and turning tail and running. 

"Yes, Schlatt." Eret hated the defeat in the boy's tone. He'd always been the most compliant out of Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo - Wilbur always outspoke his opponent, Tommy usually laughed it off or cursed them out, but Tubbo...was just Tubbo. A bit like Niki, in a way. Tommy and Wilbur usually stepped in when someone bullied Tubbo - but they weren't here now, were they? Eret knew that he should step in - that Fundy should have stepped in, but the orange-haired man was ignoring the situation and tearing down everything his father had ever stood for. 

Besides, if Eret stepped in, then he gave away his self-proclaimed neutrality. And if he was going to help the rebellion from within... then he had to keep the heat off him. Niki was already a bit deep; he'd have to talk to her later about being a bit more discreet, unless she wanted to go off and join Wilbur and Tommy, wherever they were. 

So he let the horrible gaslighting continued, as much as it pained him. 

"Tubbo?"

"Yes, Schlatt?"

"See to it that these signs are removed."

They were a piece of history. He wanted to step in even more - it was  _ history _ , that they were tearing down, history of L'Manburg - recorded history that Schlatt would no doubt change to suit his whims.

Eret, right then and there, decided that if the rebellion wasn't won, that he would be the one to pass the real story on to his children, if he had any. If he survived what he knew would become a civil war, then he would tell the real tale, not the biased one, to whatever future generations he could. He would not let this atrocity stand - but if he had to, if he had to let this continue, if  _ he  _ was the one that let the real history live, then he had to stay alive. 

The Revolutionary War had been a small one. Big at the time, and intense, but the only time anyone had ever gotten close to dying was the final duel. It hadn't even been twelve hours, and already tears and defeat were hanging in the eyes of those that had fought for their country.

He watched as Tubbo tore the signs in half, as the ink ran free, and as history was broken before him, all while he did nothing. 


	3. Chapter 3

Technoblade and Phil were here. 

Everything would be okay.

He clung to the eldest man like koalas did to trees; even though he was taller, it felt nice - he hadn't seen Phil in months and months, only for a week after the Revolutionary War in which the two stormed in to shout at Dream and spend time at him while he wavered on the edge of death and life, the arrow wound above his heart judging whether he would live or die.

He had lived, and a week later Techno and Phil had left again, going on their own, separate adventures, like many people in this part of the world did. Dream and Sapnap happened to be gone right now, and Tommy seriously hoped that Dream wouldn't take the side of the person that ruined L'Manburg - but honestly, he didn't know. 

It had been a while since then.

"Woah, woah," Philza said. "We all heard the broadcast and we came to help you guys."

Wilbur laughed as Techno sat down next to him. "I don't know if you can help us," he said sadly. "Our entire nation has turned against us."

"Even Tubbo," Tommy said. "I think." 

"My own son," Wilbur lamented.

"Eh, he was adopted," Techno shrugged. 

Phil slapped him across the back. "Techno, you can't say things like that."

"I mean, he's not wrong though," Tommy said. "Fundy is being - "

" - the rebellious teenager," Wilbur interrupted with a sigh, looking up at Techno and Phil. "I didn't know you guys would come help."

"Of course we would," Techno scoffed. "Sure, killin' orphans in the city of Hypixel is pretty important, but you know what - I don't think I've ever overthrown a government before. I need to chalk that down."

"What he's saying," Phil said with a sigh. "Is we're here because you are our family." 

"There's like four of us," Wilbur said weakly. "Four against the entirety of L'Manburg. What are four people gonna do?"

"Well, I'm Technoblade," the pink-haired man said, grinning to display his bloodthirstiness. "Killer of orphans, slayer of men, former king of the Antarctic Empire, record-holder for the most games won in - "

"Yeah, you have a lot of titles, we get it," Tommy said, rolling his eyes. 

"Point is," Techno continued. "We're gonna destroy them all." 

"Yeah, no," Wilbur said. "I don't know what you've been up to - actually, I do, but it's not important right now - but we've already had one bloody Revolutionary War." This with a pointed glance at Tommy. "And we nearly died doing that. This one is gonna be worse, I can already tell, because this time, we don't have a nation to back us up. We only have each other."

"Yeah, and it was just you and me and - uh, Tubbo - who started L'Manburg," Tommy protested. "And it was you and I who agreed that for our country to remain democratic, we would hold an election."

"I just never thought it would end like this," Wilbur said softly. "I thought that even if I never made President, I would get to look back on what happened and think that I was leaving the nation in the hands of someone who would do good things." He shook his head. "Not this. Not like this." 

"It doesn't have to end like this," Phil said firmly. "We're here for both of you, and whoever decides to join us." He hesitated. "Which is, who...exactly? I would have expected Tubbo to be here."

"He's still the Secretary of Defense," Tommy said numbly. "He's Schlatt's right-hand man." He brought his knees close to his chest, closing his eyes, Tubbo's saddened face coming to mind - the last thing he'd seen of his best friend, who'd stood by Schlatt's side when he and Wilbur had run for the woods. 

"What about Niki?" Phil said patiently, knowing when to move on.

"I'm...not sure," Wilbur said hesitantly. "She and Fundy were the third party, and Fundy sided with Schlatt openly..." 

"Well," Phil sighed. "Niki's communicator is broken, we talked about it earlier...do you think you can call Tubbo?"

Tommy brought out the device, staring at the unread messages from his best friend - and a few from Eret as well, offering supplies, but he  _ definitely  _ didn't trust Eret after what had happened last time around, so he left those messages on read and pressed the call button for his best friend. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tubbo." His voice sounds calm. Collected. As if this was just another call, as if nothing had happened. Phil grabbed his hand, and he realized that it was shaking so much he'd almost dropped the communicator. 

"Guys...what happened?"

"You know what happened, Tubbo." He didn't mean to spit the words, but they came out anyway, and he tried to hold in the tears but simply couldn't; let them overflow across his cheeks and drip down onto the rocky floor of the cave. 

"...yeah..."

"Tubbo, what's your job?" Wilbur said loudly over the small, defeated voice of his friend. 

"Uhh....to follow Schlatt around and do whatever he says." Tommy winced at the note of loss hanging heavily in Tubbo's voice. He saw Phil's fist clench at the tone. "Without question."

"Tubbo, do you like Schlatt?"

Silence at Wilbur's words. Then - 

"Why do you ask this?" There's an air of neutrality that hangs from that sentence.  _ But it's not a yes. _

"Tubbo, I'm not going to continue what I'm saying until you give me a straight answer," Wilbur continued. "Do you like Schlatt?"

"Well, he's the president, is he not?" Tubbo said. "An' I'm the Secretary of Defense. My allegiance is to him." A small pause. "Wilbur, where are you?"

Tommy hung up. After he did so, he dropped the communicator onto the rocky ground and he started to cry. 

And he couldn't stop crying. He couldn't stop crying, because Tubbo had betrayed them through following a tyrant. 

* * *

Tubbo woke up the next morning with a massive ache in his shoulder and the remnants of tears in his eyes. He had cried himself to sleep, alone in the remains of Tommy's house - of the Embassy; unwilling to travel all the way back to his jungle home just to get some sleep after L'Manburg had been renovated. 

His communicator buzzed, and he reached out a hand and grabbed it, praying that it was someone wishing him good morning, that  _ something  _ in this day would be going right - but by the message that blinked up on the screen of his communicator, things were no doubt going to be even worse - if that was possible. 

** <jschlatt> ** _ yo tubbo how about another presidential speech, eh? _

He sighed and rolled out of bed, checking himself in the mirror before pulling on his suit, giving a sad look at the uniform that he'd fought in when he'd worked for L'Manburg's freedom. Now he was merely Schlatt's shadow. The suit didn't feel right on him - a little bit too big, a little bit too stiff. But he pulled it on, because that was what his president of demanded of him, and he always listened to his president., because that was his job.

He risked another glance into the mirror, into his faded brown eyes, and the deep circles that lined his face, reaching up a hand to flatten his case of bed-hair. He couldn't bring himself to care more than that as he rolled his shoulder, wincing at the soreness that followed. He left the Embassy and walked down the path, avoiding Niki and Eret, who were walking together, and Fundy, who walked alone.

He climbed up on to the stage with Schlatt and Fundy, the latter of the two scampering into the shadows to once more mess with the broadcast output. Schlatt looked as bright as ever, not a hair out of place, and Quackity looked like he was torn between running and standing sound, his feet shuffling every few minutes. George and Sapnap - when had he gotten back? - leaned against the wall, talking to each other under their breaths as the citizens of L'Manburg gathered in front of the electoral podium. 

Despite what Schlatt had messaged him this morning, the president in question ignored him as Fundy slipped off the stage, throwing the businessman a thumbs-up. There was a brief pause as everyone quieted down. 

"Ladies and gentlemen of this great nation," Schlatt said. "I come to you at the start of a  _ great day _ !" Tubbo wasn't so sure about that one - he already felt nauseous and sick and he wanted to throw up, because he knew that Wilbur and Tommy were probably listening to the broadcast, probably wondering why he was standing by the side of the new president that had outcasted them -

-he was the Secretary of Defense, and they were traitors. Tommy and Wilbur were now traitors, fighting against his government, against  _ his way of life - _ oh, who was he trying to fool? 

Wilbur and Tommy had started this nation. They couldn't very well destroy what they had begun, and he knew they loved L'Manburg as much as he did. He had fought in the First Revolutionary War alongside them; had seen the Declaration of Independence be written, which was hidden in one of his chests, had watched as Tommy and Dream faced off and Dream emerge victoriously - and then when Tommy had woken up, had seen him come back sans his discs and with freedom in his arms for all of them.

He didn't think that they would betray L'Manburg, not now. Schlatt had been the one to push them away. Schlatt had had no cause to exile Tommy and Wilbur, none at all save for the fact that he'd done it for his own well-being. Because no doubt that Tommy and Wilbur couldn't raise a resistance if they weren't in the nation. Wilbur had always been a compelling speaker, and Tommy had always had the heart alongside the older man. Tubbo had usually followed on, quieter from the shadows, providing materials and laughing with his friends - up until Eret had betrayed them, and then he had started second-guessing everyone he knew. 

"It's only the second day of my reign over this great nation," Schlatt continued, jolting Tubbo out of his traitorous thoughts. That was exactly what they were. Traitorous. His allegiance was to Schlatt, now, not his friends. "And we have  _ totally _ , completely, and utterly removed all walls." Tubbo glanced to the right and saw the black stone that lay in rubble, some of it being cleared away slowly by a small trickle of residents and heavy lifting equipment. "The cage that has held back the citizens of this great nation - " Why did he keep repeating that line? - " has been, well, removed." Tubbo wanted to shrink in himself and die. He saw the anger on Niki's face, and how she stared at him the same damn way she'd stared at Fundy when he had taken Schlatt's side. As if this was his choice.

_ It is your choice _ .

No. It wasn't. Standing here was his civic duty. 

_ Keep telling yourself that. _

"Metaphorically speaking, the country has been uncaged." Schlatt paused for dramatic effect. "And you know what?"

"What?" Quackity piped up eagerly. 

"You know what I'm feelin'?"

"What are you feeling?" Quackity repeated. 

"Enough of this living in the past," Schlatt decided after a moment. "No walls. No...spaceships. No Elton John houses. I say - I say, fellas, I say we rename this country."

"Schlatt," Tubbo murmured, as the crowd burst into noise, as Niki and Eret started screaming, and even George and Sapnap looked up curiously, and Quackity looked taken aback and Fundy had a neutral look on his face. "Schlatt, I really don't think that's a good idea." 

"Schlatt, you can't do that, you have no right to do that!" Niki screamed, her voice audible above all the noise of the rest. 

"NO LONGER!" Schlatt shouted, ignoring everyone. "Will this country be called  _ L'Manburg _ ." He scoffed at the name. "I say that's rather out of date."

"Schlatt..." Tubbo whispered. Once again, he was ignored. 

"Nobody uses apostrophes," Schlatt mocked. "I say - " He glanced at Quackity. " - effective immediately, our great nation is now  _ Manburg _ ."

"Oh!" Quackity said.

"MANBURG!" Schlatt roared, to the obvious dismay of the crowd. 

"You're going to pay for this," Niki said, anger and hatred and rage in her voice as she glared at the president. 

"How 'bout that, fellas?" Schlatt said, clapping lightly. " _ Manburg _ ? This country will take no more L's." 

Perhaps in another place and time, Tubbo would have laughed at that joke. Perhaps in another place and time, he would have cracked a smile. Perhaps in another place and time.

Now, things seemed to drift closer and closer to a real-life nightmare, monsters and darkness and all.

* * *

Eret stared down at his communicator, where two messages are left on read - nay, three. One to Tommy, one to Wilbur, and one to Tubbo. He sighed as he put it back into his pocket. Clearly, they didn't trust him. They shouldn't trust him. 

"Taxes are due tomorrow," Schlatt said nonchalantly as he passed where he and Niki were sitting in the shade of an apple tree. 

"I'm not paying your fucking taxes," Niki spat.

Schlatt stopped in his tracks, and Eret narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, his hand itching to draw the sword that lay at his side, ready to jump in front of Niki. Sure. They had their differences, but he considered Niki a friend. Schlatt pivoted sharply, Tubbo hovering at his side, refusing to meet Eret's eyes. 

He wondered if Tubbo was being gaslighted, somehow. The boy had always, like George, been more of a follower than a leader. Perhaps he was being corrupted. Eret didn't know, and he couldn't risk pushing if Tubbo really was on Schlatt's side. He sure as hell seemed to be. 

"You better pay your taxes, girl," Schlatt said dangerously. "Or I swear to Schlatt you'll regret it."

Niki snorted. "You're so full of yourself." 

A pause.

Niki cried out as her back was slammed against the tree, struggling for breath. Eret had his sword out and pointed at the heart of the president in a second, and everything just seemed to  _ stop _ .

"You gonna kill me, Eret?" Schlatt said dangerously, not letting down his grip as Niki struggled for breath, no words escaping her open mouth. 

"You gonna let her go?" he whispered back in the same tone. 

Schlatt laughed, suddenly, and let go of Niki, who collapsed to the ground, gasping and spitting. Schlatt clapped Eret on the back, the man wincing from the hit. "That's what I like to see in someone!" His grin was gone in an instant. "Don't make a habit of it."

Eret watched as Schlatt walked off, George and Quackity following him. He saw Tubbo staring at him before the sixteen-year-old trickled after the president, but he wasn't sure if the water on the boy's face were tears of perspiration. 

"I can't do this anymore," Niki sobbed, clinging to him as he helped her up, rubbing the mottled bruises that lined her neck. He sheathed his sword harshly, wishing he could throw it like a bow threw an arrow and have it hit Schlatt between the shoulder blades.

That wasn't ethically right, sure, but he felt like Schlatt deserved it. 

"Hey," he said. "Everything's gonna be alright, okay?"

She shook her head miserably. "The bakery doesn't bring in much income, Eret. I give the food away for free; I don't have any money - "

"I can pay for it," he said instantly. "I'm the king, remember?"

"Yeah, because you betrayed L'Manburg," she muttered. Eret winced. Niki's eyes grew wide. "OH! I'm so sorry, Eret, that was uncalled for - "

"Uncalled for, yes," he admitted. "But wrong? No. They aren't responding to my messages, and probably for good reason. I wish that you hadn't broken your communicator, Niki."

"The flag - " she said, and then stopped, tilting her head to the side to stare up at the flag of L'Manburg - nay, Manburg, now. Niki's eyes grew wide, and Eret spun to see Fundy standing at the platform that was on top of the flag, a walking platform meant to view  _ Manburg's  _ area. he was holding something in his hand - was that - 

"NO!" Niki screamed, and ran, Eret grabbing for her and missing. He cursed inwardly and ran after her, dodging through people, including Sapnap, who glared as he jumped aside, following Niki through the ruins of the walls and the original van and to the base of the flag. 

The flag that was burning. 

The scent of smoke begin to curl through the air, and Eret looked up with horror to see the flag of L'Manburg burning, with Fundy crawling down the ladder, a flint and steel peeking out from his pocket.

Niki screamed again as the project she had worked so hard on, for weeks and weeks, burned as easily as the sun rose in the morning. Eret grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her from underneath the blaze, but Niki kicked him away as she jumped on Fundy, beating him with swings of her arm in a flash of fury and anger. Fundy cried out and attempted to shield himself from the blows as Eret pulled back Niki, glancing upwards once more to see the flames licking at the wooden pole that supported the entirety of the emblem. Soot rained down, and tiny pieces of burning fabric, and his eyes watered from the heat of the fire as Niki screamed unintelligible things at the orange-haired boy - once friends, now Eret was sure they were enemies. 

Other people were standing near them, unwilling to jump into the heat, and Eret  _ finally  _ managed to pull Niki off of Fundy just in time to hear the groaning of wood as the flag fell. 

He pushed her aside, and saw Fundy jump aside as well, as the pole standard - the blue, white, black, and gold, all ablaze with flame, fell to the side of them, causing a small tremor in the ground. Niki cried out as sparks flew onto her bare shoulders and legs, and Eret grimaced and grabbed her, tossing her out of the way. She rolled into a pile of stone, but at least she was alive - she was bloody and bruised, but she was alive. He looked over his shoulder and saw Fundy as well, sadly in considerably better shape than Niki was.

_ Schlatt had torn the family apart. _

After he had betrayed them, he'd never been really part of their family, but Fundy had been like an adopted son to Wilbur - Wilbur never had the papers, but just like he called Tommy his little brother, Fundy was Wilbur's son. 

With just two speeches, Schlatt had managed to ruin everything. 

He knelt down next to Niki, shedding his coat, which had luckily protected him from the worst of the fire, and winced at the burns that adorned her. He knew she was breathing by how her chest was moving, but her eyes were closed and blood ran down her face from a nasty wound in her head. 

"Do we have a medic?" he called, looking over his shoulder at the spectators. 

Nobody moved. 

He picked Niki up, wincing when he jostled her, and walked out of L'Manburg.

"That's what rebellion gets!" Quackity called. "Karma, I tell ya!"

"See us rise," Hbomb muttered as they passed him.

"See, Eret?" Schlatt called after him, a nasty smirk on his face. "You're gonna watch  _ L'Manburg  _ fall, and in the ashes, Manburg will rise - a greater and more powerful country than Wilbur Soot could ever hope to create." He turned towards Fundy, who was limping slightly, bruises from Niki's hits mottling his face and legs and stomach. "Make it all fall. Burn it to the ground." Fundy nodded wearily, glancing at Niki and Eret once before trudging off. 

As they passed the podium, Eret paused behind a pillar, reaching into his pocket and taking out the flint and steel he had stolen from Wilbur's son. 

"Make it fall," he whispered, as he struck it against the wooden pillar and saw it kindle, the sparks catching it alight.  _ "Watch it fall, Schlatt _ ." 

Tubbo just stared at him as he passed by, the small boy hesitating before staying where he was, his eyes flickering to the tiny fire that Eret had started.

Eret noticed that he had a bruise on his collarbone. 

He let a smirk form on his face when the others noticed the fire - but it was too late, far too late to stop it. 

_ Watch it burn, Schlatt. _


	4. Chapter 4

He sat at the base of a tree and he cried.

He cried because everything he had ever done - everything he had ever worked for was gone. Schlatt had rebranded L'Manburg to Manburg. Schlatt had renamed  _ his  _ nation - no, not just  _ his _ , his, and Wilbur's. Schlatt had torn his family apart. Schlatt had made son betray father, friend betray friend. Schlatt was worse than Dream. At least Dream had been honest. At least Dream had respected Tommy's space after the war and had left to go on an adventure. 

At least Dream had respected Tommy for what he had done, despite being adversaries. 

Schlatt had ruined his world. 

He'd listened as his life had come crumbling down upon him, with just a second simple presidential speech. He'd listened as tears had poured down his face and Wilbur had stared, shocked, at the radio. He'd seen Phil reach for him as he'd turned and run out the door. 

He'd sat here for hours. He'd heard them call for him, but he had not budged.

He'd seen his world crumble before him and he knew that this was probably the end of things. He was only a kid - no matter how much he hated being called a kid, he  _ was  _ sixteen. He'd fought more battles, made more sacrifices, than people who'd lived out their entire lives and died of old age. 

He'd seen more blood than any teenager ever should.

He drew in a shaky breath and let it out, scrubbing at his eyes.

He was tired of fighting. He'd thought that after Dream had given them their freedom, they could go back to being a family again. He'd even talked to Eret a couple of times. He'd seen when Niki had joined their family; had celebrated his birthday just a few months ago. 

He hated Schlatt.

He'd gone to bed last night and had heard the other three talk about battle plans and tactics and he was  _ sick  _ of fighting. He joked about stabbing people and violence but really - he wanted Tubbo back.

He wanted his best friend. 

He wanted to lie in the grassy fields and listen to Tubbo talk about bees and technology. He wanted to laugh when he beat Tubbo with his sword - again. He wanted to steal Eret's crown because Techno wasn't around, and he wanted a meeting with his brothers that didn't have anything to do with violence. 

He'd been out here for nearly six hours. It was nearly midday. In the middle of the forest. He was alone.

He got to his feet and walked back to their little cave. They were arguing when he opened the door, but stopped when they saw him. He ignored them and headed towards the back of the cave, where he'd slept the night before.

"Where have you been?" Wilbur demanded.

He stopped in his tracks. "Thinking."

"We were worried sick."

"Okay."

"Tommy, you have to understand that I thought they took you," Wilbur said. "I thought he'd gotten you, and I wasn't there to protect you - "

"Oh, you mean like last time?" he spat, spinning around angrily. Wilbur took a step back, looking nervous for once. "You mean like  _ last  _ time, Wilbur Soot?"

"What are you talking about?"

He laughed dryly, and nobody laughed with him. Techno was staring at him warily, and Phil was just looking at him with pity. "I mean when Dream shot me the first time in the disc war because you decided that the best idea in the world was leaving me with my best friend - it was a mighty fine idea, actually,  _ until  _ you also put a Technoblade with less social anxiety and less chill into the mix. Oh, and then there was that time that you let me duel Dream, Wilbur, which was a shitty idea, but I'll let it slide because that was my own fuckin' plan."

Wilbur goes white, and Phil winced, and Techno's eyes darkened. 

"It's gonna happen again, you know," he said with a shrug. "'Cept this time it's gonna be worse because we don't have anybody to back us up. We don't have Tubbo anymore, and we don't have Niki or Fundy, and we don't have anyone to back us up, and this time we're fighting a dictator. It's gonna be worse this time. I am  _ tired  _ of fighting wars, Wilbur. I am sixteen years old and you seem to  _ forget _ , no matter how many times you call me a child, when it becomes important, you forget that I'm sixteen years old and I've fought in more wars than most people. Hell, I've  _ led  _ more wars than most people. You all tell me that I am a teenager, and then you turn around and forget that  _ that  _ is exactly what I am when I want to be a teenager the most." He turned around again, feeding in the silence that followed him. "It's gonna be worse this time around. I hope you're ready for the outcome."

* * *

Tubbo watched as Fundy raised a new flag - one with far worse stitching than Niki's, for sure - and one that wasn't the colors of L'Manburg at all. The colors of  _ Manburg _ . The colors of Schlatt, of the new country. 

He turned around and he watched the pillar of smoke from the pile of books that had come from  _ his  _ library,  _ his  _ archive - his and Wilbur's old home. 

"Hey, Tubbo!" He looked to his right with an aching head to see Schlatt striding towards him. "You ever find the official Declaration of War written by Dream?" 

He shook his head miserably. "Dream took it back." Which was true; after the war, Dream had taken the Declaration of War with him and had either hidden it somewhere, or had taken it with him on his adventure, which, knowing Dream, was somewhat likely.

Schlatt sighed. "Tubbo, we're trying to forget about history and start over," the businessman chided him, and Tubbo winced at the harshness hidden behind the silver tongue of the person that was talking. "We can't really do that if all the important history notations are still circulating the system, eh?" Schlatt clapped Tubbo on the back, and he winced as the older man hit one of the many bruises that decorated his body. "See to it that they are found."

"Yes, Mr. President," he said, pushing enthusiasm in his voice. Schlatt gave him a side-eye, before stalking off back to Quackity and George. 

Tubbo turned towards the forest and tried not the let the tears streak down his face. His track record of not-crying was the longest it'd been in  _ hours _ , he couldn't break now. 

He missed Tommy and Wilbur. They were traitors, but his dense heart missed them anyway. He didn't  _ want  _ miss them - he shouldn't miss them, but he did anyway. 

"Hey Tubbo," Punz called over from his guard position near the collapsed wall. "Can you grab my hat from the van? I think I left it in there when I got some water." 

He had nothing better to do, so he nodded wordlessly and walked over to the broken white van that had been the cause of nearly everything. He stepped up the foot of the vehicle and took a deep breath, memories flashing before his eyes.

_ Tommy stepped out of the van, a grin on his face - just before an arrow came flying through the air and hit his best friend right below his left collarbone. _

That was at the beginning of the war. Tommy had complained for weeks about not being able to swing a sword. 

He walked farther into the coolness of the van, noticing the soot and dirt smudges on the walls from countless meetings held at the center table.

_ Eret's betrayal had hit them all hard, him most especially, because he had gone mining with the now-king to gather supplies for the troops. Hours and hours...all for nothing. All to end in betrayal and hurt and death. Eret knew their plans, their tactics...he could help Dream win the war, sending L'Manburg into only a thought of what it could be.  _

** I miss them. **

_ Wilbur had asked him what supplies he had. Tubbo had, regretfully, said none. Eret had taken it all. All of it - gone, gone, like a breeze over a silver lake, gone like the leaves come fall - gone because of one man, one betrayal, one trust too far. _

** I miss them. **

_ "Independence or death. If we get no revolution, then we want nothing. We would rather die than give in to you and join your SMP." _

_ Wilbur's words rang strongly that day. Wilbur's words made Dream explode their land, which they rebuilt after they had regained their freedom. Tubbo had tended to the grass, had watched Techno and Phil arrive to see Tommy, who had been unconscious for nearly a week - the war on hold, both sides at a standstill. Dream had only allowed Technoblade and Philza through their land into L'Manburg on a promise that they would only be there to see Tommy - nothing more, nothing less.  _

** I miss them. **

_ Tommy woke up. Tommy woke up, went to see Dream without anyone's permission, and traded his two most precious items away - his discs, items of old and long-forgotten power that Dream had wanted after Tommy had found them in a dungeon one day. Tommy had given them to the masked man in exchange for their independence.  _

_ He remembered the joy that had filled him when Tommy had come back with a sad look on his face, and Wilbur had run through the gates, Techno and Phil on his heels, asking him what had happened, where he had gone -  _

_ Tubbo had known. He'd known the moment that the quiet music that had played ever since Tommy had fallen into his week-long coma stopped tinkling - he'd known what Tommy was going to do, what he'd done. They'd often sit on their bench at the Embassy staring at the sunset, talking about ways to end the war. Tommy liked to joke about violence, but enough was enough, and they were all afraid to die, to lose their found family. _

_ So when Tommy uttered his next words, Tubbo was not surprised at all. _

_ "Wilbur...Wilbur, I have secured our independence."  _

** I miss them. **

He jolted himself out of his memories, gasping, wiping at the tears that flowed down his face. Wilbur and Tommy were traitors, were outcasts - 

They were his friends.

Allegiance before friendship. That was his motto. Always, always - it hadn't mattered before, because his allegiance to L'Manburg, now Manburg, had been to Wilbur and Tommy. They'd been one and the same.

The tides had split.

He didn't know which one to follow. 

His hands brushed against something on the table, and he looked up and saw Punz's hat. Where his hand had brushed the headwear aside, a book lay there - a book that had some dark stains he knew instantly to be blood, little rips, and tears in it. He saw the scrawled signature of Dream on it...and knew what it was.

The official Declaration of War.

So many months ago...and now it was here.

Here, under Punz's hat, in the cammere van - this place had been entered before, why was it here, why - 

Punz. Punz had put it here on purpose for him to find - why? 

He should take it and throw it into the burning pile of books outside. He should do what Schlatt had told him to do, and burn the history that he had taken apart in, that he had  _ made  _ with his own bare hands.

He turned the page of the book with shaking hands and saw the neat handwriting of Dream, and the signatures of everybody that had stood for Dream SMP at that time. 

He couldn't do it.

* * *

There was so much fire in the air.

The burning of the flag, the burning of the podium, and now the burning of the books - it was a surprise that the air wasn't filled with smoke. It was a surprise that he wasn't suffocating from the smell of it. 

"That's the best I can do," Jack said regretfully as he backed away from Niki, from where she lay, still unconscious, in one of the empty bedrooms of Eret's castle. 

Eret nodded at Jack, and the former L'Manburgian hesitated - and then turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Eret watched him go, and then turned back to Niki. 

Niki was the medic of L'maburg - Manburg. Manburg, now. Jack had only been training under her. The boy had done the best he could, and Eret wished that he could sit down and talk with him, but Jack was following Schlatt, much as Tubbo did.

He glanced down at his communicator, his other hand lying by Niki's bandaged one.

** <The_Eret> ** _ Wilbur, Niki got very badly injured _

Left on read again.

They probably thought he was lying. For good reason.

He let out a breath, gathering his thoughts. He had to do something. He had to tell them what was going on. His right hand touched Niki's hand, where he'd tied the final piece of her precious flag, the only piece that hadn't burned, around her wrist. He untied it deftly, wincing at the burned edges of the rich red gold fabric piece, standing up and deciding his next move in the next four seconds. 

He spent the next twenty minutes packing up his bag, but not before stopping by Jack's temporary room in the castle - his house had been taken down by Schlatt, and while Eret didn't exactly trust the man, he trusted him enough with Niki's life; after all, both of them were L'Manburgian. He told Jack that he was going somewhere, and to watch over Niki. Jack was smart enough to not ask him where he was going, and as Eret took one last look at the rainbow flag that waved in the wind on the tallest peak of his castle, he wondered if this was the turning point. 

He took a deep breath, strapped his sword tighter to his body, and walked into the forest, out of the lands of the DreamSMP, and away from L'Manburg.

He had to find Wilbur and Tommy. He had to tell them what was happening - with Tommy, with Niki, now, and with Fundy. 

He knew that he couldn't find them alone. There was someone who had always been an excellent tracker...someone who knew the Dream SMP well enough to find the two L'Manburgians without telling Schlatt at all. 

It took him about two hours, but eventually, he reached the border of the Idots SMP. By the time he found the area where the houses were located, it was nearly sunset, and his legs hurt from the fast trot he'd been using to travel. The houses on the Idot SMP were far less neat, but the jungle on which they were located was nice and bright, and didn't have any bombshell holes or remains from any wars. He even spotted a couple of parrots chirping in the trees, which gave him a brief bit of happiness - there weren't many wild animals in the Dream SMP; most of them had been killed in the wars or run off.

He climbed up the stairs around the thickest jungle tree, hearing the soft voices that he couldn't quite draw out come closer and closer.

He knocked on the trapdoor that separated himself and the people on the other side. 

"Who's there?" a higher-pitched voice demanded. 

"Skeppy! Don't be rude, you muffin head," the other voice shot back. Eret breathed a sigh of relief at that voice - it meant that Bad was here, and could help him. 

"It's, uh, Eret," he said.

"Who?"

"SKEPPY!" The door flew open to reveal a short black-haired man in a duck onesie -  _ why? _ \- with narrowed eyes and a sword pointed at Eret's heart. 

Another person pushed Skeppy aside, this one wearing a black and red set of clothes and bearing green eyes and brown hair. "Hey, Eret! Sorry about this muffin head, he's sleep-deprived! Come on in!"

"I have no idea who he is," Skeppy complained, but he stepped aside, watching as Eret crawled into the messy, yet cozy treehouse. 

"Did I just get who-mega-loled?" Eret muttered to himself as he sat down on the pillow-covered couch, watching as Skeppy and Bad settled down in the loveseat - why the fuck did they have a loveseat?

"Huh?" Skeppy asked him.

"Nevermind," he said. "Bad, I need your help."

Bad blinked at him. "With what?"

"Have you not heard what happened?"

"No...should I have?"


	5. Chapter 5

"If we're planning a rebellion," Techno said around breakfast - which was only a couple of eggs from some stray chickens that Phil had stolen from. "The first thing we're gonna need is food." The pink-haired man pushed back his chair and walked over to his backpack. Phil sighed as Techno reached inside and pulled out a potato.

"Really?" Tommy said. "Potatoes?"

"Hey, they're magic potatoes," Techno protested. "I got 'em from Hypixel himself. They grow forty times faster than normal potatoes."

"Yeah, but you  _ had  _ to have potatoes," Tommy muttered.

"Potatoes are a good carb food," Phil said, trying to break the tension. "Besides, magic beans - I mean, potatoes - are sort of what we need if we're going to survive the day." 

Tommy sighed.

They started from scratch. He went mining with Wilbur and Techno, and Phil did some weird things that only Tubbo would understand - that panged his heart, when he heard Phil talking excitedly about redstone capabilities and zero-tick farms and t-flops, whatever that meant. He gathered iron and watched it smelt in the forge, and he twirled his sword around, the one belonging that he'd brought with him, watching as the sunlight bounced off the enchanted shininess.

"Hey, kid," Techno said gruffly as he sat down next to Tommy, watching the sun hit mid-afternoon. 

"I'm not a kid," he replied automatically.

"Sure. Fool yourself."

"Techno," he said. "Techno, why are you here?"

"Because I wanna destroy some nerds who are trying to hurt my family?" Techno said, raising an eyebrow. 

"No, not  _ that _ ," Tommy said, annoyed. "Why you go to Hypixel. Why you leave me behind. Why you let me get hurt."

"You wanted to move to the Dream SMP to be with Tubbo," Techno said. "You specifically said ' _ I'm an adult and an Alpha Male and I'll be fine.' _ You wanted to be alone."

"I've done that hundreds of times before, and hundreds of times since, and you haven't let me do anything else," Tommy argued. 

Technoblade sighed, and swung his sword over his lap, staring into his own reflection. "We know we were wrong to do that, Tommy. That's why Wilbur came back. We just didn't expect you to cause this much chaos."

"It was the green bastard, not me." 

"Tommy, you should have given in. Let him keep the discs." 

" _ You  _ wouldn't have." 

" _ I  _ am an adult. I am also someone who doesn't scream swears just to annoy people on purpose." 

"You planted potatoes for six months straight, Technoblade." 

"...fair point."

"And besides," Tommy said. "If the Disc War hadn't occurred then L'Manburg wouldn't have gained its freedom." 

"Maybe you should have won the duel against Dream." 

"Maybe you should have been around the teach me how to shoot an arrow properly instead of gallivanting off at Hypixel."

Technoblade fell silent, and Tommy winced at his own words, though he wasn't sorry about them. He had slightly resented Techno, no matter how much he envied his older brother, for not being there when he needed his help.

"You told me you could survive on your own."

"That's a bullshit excuse, Technoblade." 

Techno sighed. "I know, Tommy.  _ We  _ know. We were wrong. Wilbur is a very influential speaker, but we're all around the same age. I guess we forgot the rationality you lack." 

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. 

"No problem, nerd." An awkward pause. "So. How's life?"

"You know," Tommy said. "I be livin' it. Well, not really, you know how it is, being kicked out of L'Manburg and being betrayed by your best friend and your older brother's son." 

"Yeah, what a common occurrence." 

Tommy rolled his eyes. "You're so full of shit, man."

Techno laughed, elbowing him in the side. "You know, if you're not going to use that sword..."

Tommy stiffened. "Of course I'm gonna use this sword! I'm the best and nobody can defeat me!"

"Dream did."

"Yeah, and Dream nearly defeated you."

"Nearly doesn't mean he did," Techno said idly as he spun his sword around. "I respect him, though."

"You like him?" Tommy scoffed. "He's a bitch."

"I said I respected him," Techno corrected sharply. "I respected his sportsmanship when I dueled him, and I respect him as a person. I don't respect him for what he did to you and Wilbur...and Tubbo." 

"Good," Tommy snorted. "The guy is a fuckin' idiot." 

Techno grinned, suddenly, and hopped to his feet, swinging his sword around. "You said you're the best. Prove it."

"Oh, I can," Tommy said, a wide grin forming on his face as he stood up, backing away from Technoblade, the two beginning to circle each other. "Dream's taught me a few things...when he wasn't being the green bastard he is."

He couldn't sworn jealousy flashed through Techno's eyes as his older brother leaped forward and attacked him. 

But no - that would be stupid. Why would Techno be jealous of Dream?

* * *

Tubbo didn't know what the fuck was going on. He hadn't seen Niki in nearly twenty-four hours - he didn't know whether she was alive or dead - and Eret had also vanished somewhere. 

He was lonely.

His hands itched to grab his communicator and contact Tommy, even though his best friend was a traitor. He wanted to  _ talk  _ to him, even if it was against the rules, even though it went against everything he stood for.

This was one of the longest periods that Tubbo had ever gone without talking to Tommy. The other longest time had been when Tommy had been in his coma. That had been heartbreaking as well - but at least Tubbo had been able to fall asleep in a medical cot next to Tommy and lie awake and watch his chest rise and fall, reminding him that Tommy was alive and would wake up.

He had.

But Tubbo didn't even know if Tommy and Wilbur were alive.

Schlatt had taken his communicator, claiming he didn't need it. Schlatt had taken his only way to talk to his best friend. Schlatt had torn his world down with only a few sentences. 

Schlatt was the president of L'Manburg and Tubbo's allegiance was to Schlatt. 

_ Schlatt was the president of L'Manburg and Tubbo's allegiance was to Schlatt.  _

** Schlatt was the president of L'Manburg, and Tubbo's allegiance was to Schlatt.  **

His world crumbled around him as the words echoed over and over in the head, as he stared at his misty-eyed self in the mirror, and he noticed the bruises that poked out from beneath his suit - from too-hard shoves and slaps across the back.

It was an accident. Schlatt didn't mean it. 

* * *

Eret and Bad waved goodbye to Skeppy the next morning, who still looked a bit put-out by the whole situation after Eret said that since Schlatt had technically been democratically elected, Skeppy couldn't just kill him - it would be an act of war. No matter how evil Schlatt seemed to be, everything he had done was perfectly legal.

Bad was the best tracker ever known according to Dream, George, and Sapnap - he'd been the one to find Dream nearly whenever they played their country-wide game of Manhunt in the unclaimed territory over. Eret had maybe talked to him once or twice - he seemed like a pretty chill guy who didn't like swearing and was sort of quiet. 

They trudged back to the Dream SMP in silence. 

Since Bad didn't have a visa - it had expired, and Dream wasn't there to sign a new one, and Eret  _ really  _ didn't want to ask George or Sapnap, who would most likely tell Schlatt, and Bad was a lot like Tubbo, and followed the herd at times. 

Eret stared at the rainbow flag that swung above his castle, blinking as he pictured Niki's L'Manburg flag burning in memory-form translated to his eyesight. He shook his head, more to himself, and followed Bad through the forest, the green-eyed man bending down ever so often to stare at the ground. Honestly, Eret couldn't spot anything - but that was why Bad was tracking Tommy and Wilbur, not him, he mused.

"Huh, that's odd," Bad muttered, talking for the first time in nearly four hours, as it approached the end of the day. They were near some cliffs stacked tall with dirt, and Eret could swear he heard bees buzzing. "Someone's here."

_ Crack. _

Eret drew his sword, and spun, his eyes widening as he turned to face someone who stood not five feet from him, silent as a wolf, his sword out and pointed at Eret's exposed neck. 

That someone was Technoblade.

_ What the fuck was Technoblade doing here? _

Eret felt his jaw drop. Technoblade was a legend from Hypixel - why was he out here, near where Tommy and Wilbur were? Was there a bounty that Eret didn't know about on the two castaways? He set his jaw firmly in place, casually adjusting his grip on his sword.

Technoblade was said to be the best swordsman on the continent. Eret had watched him fight before - once, when Dream had battled the pink-haired man. Techno and Dream had gone at it for what seemed like  _ hours _ , and Eret had been proud to say that the minutes had flown by like hummingbirds, and, though he had never talked to Technoblade before, cheered when the taller man had won. Not because he didn't like Dream - Eret was awfully scared of Dream, though he didn't show it openly - but because that had been a  _ damn  _ good battle. 

He knew he couldn't beat Technoblade.

But if Techno was going to stand between him and Wilbur and Tommy...well...

"Hey, Techno!" Bad chirped up, and Techno's eyes flicked to the dark-cloaked man before narrowing back on Eret, who swallowed nervously. He really wished he would put the sword down. He did  _ not  _ like the way it glinted in the fading sunlight. "This is Eret."

"I know who this is," Techno said calmly, and Eret felt his blood run cold at the sheer carelessness in the man's voice - as if they were just having tea, and there wasn't a sword nicking at the artery in his neck. "I've been told all about him."

Eret was confused. Why did Techno know about  _ him _ ? At first, he was flattered, but if there was a sharp blade at his neck, then it obviously couldn't be good things. 

"Well, you can put the sword down," Bad said, sounding annoyed. "If you know him." 

"He betrayed my brothers," Techno shot back.

The pieces flew together in his head at once. He knew that Tommy was Wilbur's adopted younger brother, but he saw the stance that Techno had, that Tommy shoddily used sometimes - he saw the bits of brown hair poking through the dye that had been used in Techno's hair - the semi-stern expression that was  _ definitely  _ Wilbur's poking through, though it had a bit of Techno's own indifference. 

Techno was Wilbur's - and by extent, Tommy's - older brother.

Holy shit.

A small noise of disbelief escaped him, and he stiffened as the sword dug deeper into his neck, a small droplet of blood running down his throat. 

"Woah, woah!" Bad said, jumping forward and placing his hand on the flat of the blade, pushing it down towards the earth. "Techno! Stop it, you muffin! Give him a chance to explain!"

"He's not going to explain anything," Techno growled, and Eret winced, expecting to die right then and there. Techno nodded towards Bad. " _ You  _ are. You have seven words."

"We have information invaluable to the resistance," Bad said, counting out the words on his fingers. 

"Like what?" Techno said, genuine curiosity flooding onto his face, actually turning and facing Bad. Eret didn't move. He knew that Techno was still paying attention to him, though he didn't seem to be. His best option right now was to remain as still as a rabbit and pray that Techno didn't tear him apart. 

Bad let a bit of his happy facade slip, and Eret saw fear flash in his green eyes before the grin was slapped right back on his face. "It's about L'Manburg - Manburg - " 

"L'Manburg," Eret corrected instantly, wincing as Techno turned back towards him. When blood wasn't drawn, he continued his sentence. "It's still L'Manburg."

"You betrayed it."

He swallowed. "Yes. I did." Techno's expression remained emotionless. "But I also built the walls that surrounded it and I also care for the people within it. And Schlatt tore the family -  _ your  _ family - apart."

"They're still with me."

He shook his head. "Your extended family. I mean Tubbo and Fundy." Techno's expression flashed with something unreadable. "And Niki. It's just not right. Not to me, not to many people. L'Manburg earned its freedom. It shouldn't be taken away because someone wanted true democracy and paid for it by electing a dictator." 

Techno stared at him for a second, before pivoting on his feet. "Follow me." It was a calm order that Eret, despite being the proclaimed king of the Dream SMP, scrambled to follow. 

He felt a silly grin on his face as he followed in the silent footfalls of Technoblade. They had a chance. A chance. A small chance - but it was better than anything.

Technoblade led them to the entrance of a small cave, where he pushed aside a boulder to reveal a poorly-cut wooden door. Eret had to remind himself that they were hiding, not making tasteful decorations. In his opinion, the entire place needed a bit more rainbow. 

Though that wouldn't be very discreet. 

He saw the flickering flame of candlelight illuminating the place as he ducked under the doorframe, Bad following him. Clustered around the center table that was covered with maps and tiny shaped rocks that looked like people, he saw three figures. He recognized two of them instantly - the two tallest ones, one with a torn L'Manburg uniform covered in a brown cloak and bearing a black beanie that disguised the mass of brown hair underneath; and the other, one who had shed his revolutionary uniform for his telltale red and white shirt and tan khakis. 

Tommy and Wilbur.

"YOU!" Wilbur shouted as he turned towards the door, lunging for his sword. 

"TRAITOR!" Tommy screamed at the same time, rushing at Eret with his sword.

A flurry of motion, and Eret saw Technoblade slip out of the shadows in front of him, effectively blocking Tommy. "Woah there, nerd. I led him here."

"What?" Wilbur demanded, his sword in his hand, but he made no move to come closer as Tommy stepped back, his eyes narrowed on Eret. "Why?"

"We have information," Bad said quietly. 

"Make it quick, then," Tommy snapped.

"It's not something that's quick," Eret said.

"Well, make yourself at home, then," Wilbur said, his voice dripping sarcasm. "And while you're at it, we'll just let you betray us again."

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow, the blow hitting close to his heart. He'd heard far worse. He could deal with that slight. "Well, okay, if you insist on the short version - Tubbo tore the walls down, Fundy burned the flag of L'Manburg to the ground, and Niki is in a coma." he lowered his three fingers and made a show of turning to go.

" _ Excuse me _ ?" Wilbur cried out.

"Tubbo did  _ what _ ?" Tommy shouted at the same time. 

"Niki is in a  _ coma _ ?" Wilbur said next, his voice rising higher and higher. "My son burned down the flag?" 

He looked over his shoulder at the defeated look of the older man. "Yeah, and Niki got mad and got into a fistfight with him, ending with the ruins of the burning flag crashing around her and hurting her. I pulled her out of there." He brought out the final piece of the flag, still sooty and burned at the edges, that he'd managed to salvage. Wilbur grabbed it and clenched it in his fist, staring at it with horror. 

"What about Tubbo?" Tommy asked, his hands nearly knuckle-white from the grip he held around his sword - though at least he wasn't trying to murder Eret.

Eret sighed and turned back around, throwing Bad a look, who nodded at him. "The situation in L'Manburg - "

"You mean Manburg," Wilbur said sharply.

"I mean  _ L'Manburg _ ," he said simply. "I may no longer be a citizen - "

"Because you betrayed us," Tommy hissed. 

" - but I still respect it," he said, ignoring Tommy. "I built it alongside you, and you are not one to tear down your history, unlike Schlatt. He had Tubbo burn all the books."

"And did he do it?" Tommy whispered, his face white.

"...yes," Eret said. "Yes, he did. He burned the archives down."

"He  _ wouldn't _ ," Tommy said, horrified.

"He did," Eret said simply. "He did. But I don't think he wanted to. Tubbo is having an internal battle within himself."

"Why?"

It was the first time the final person in the room spoke, and Eret finally looked at him - a shorter, older man with a white and green bucket hat and piercing blue eyes that reminded him a lot of Tommy, and - wait. 

Wait, he knew this guy. This guy had been all over the posters seven years ago. 

"Philza?"

"Why?" Philza asked him again. 

He sputtered for an answer. Why were all the heroes here? Philza gave him a look, and he found his response. "Because his fealty is to L'Manburg."

"It's to me!" Tommy said hotly.

"He's the Secretary of Defense," Eret said patiently. "He was sworn into office to follow the president. And you know Tubbo. He likes keeping his promises. When he made it, it didn't matter, because his president and his vice president were his family. But now..." 

"Now it's a split path," Phil said slowly.

"But that's an easy choice!" Tommy said. "He should choose us!"

"When you make a promise, Tommy," Techno said. "You keep it. I know that that's not something you do often - "

" _ HEY!"  _ Tommy squawked. 

" - but I've met Tubbo like three times, and he seems the type of person to keep them. And right now, his promise is to protect L'Manburg - sorry,  _ Manburg _ \- and serve Schlatt. Not us." 

"But we're his friends," Tommy insisted.

"Which is precisely why he's having that issue," Eret cut in. 

"I don't get it," Tommy complained. "It shouldn't be that hard of a choice."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Schlatt is also holding him back," Eret said angrily. "He took his communicator and I'm pretty sure Tubbo gets pushed around a lot." 

"Tommy pushed him around a lot, it's nothing new," Wilbur said warily.

Eret swallowed. "No, like...pushed  _ pushed  _ around a lot." He swallowed the awful calculating look that entered Techno's eyes. "Physically."

Tommy's eyes darkened.


	6. Chapter 6

He didn't want to believe Eret's words as the _traitor_ updated the maps Wilbur had spent so long creating for Phil and Techno. 

He'd never been the best at reading liars; that was Techno's job, and Techno seems to trust Eret - but Techno wasn't _there_ when Eret betrayed them, Techno doesn't _know_ Eret like Tommy did. 

But he wondered if he really did know Eret, as he watched Eret move rocks around as he explained the current state of L'Manburg - removing the borders that had been the walls, and saying that he had burnt down the podium that had also contained the radio station center. He wondered if he _knew_ Eret when the man said that he'd taken Niki back to his castle, not backing down when Wilbur started nearly shouting at him, and saying in a calm voice that his castle was the only place she was safe.

Which was true. 

But Tommy couldn't believe that Tubbo would willingly stay with Schlatt. Tommy couldn't believe that Tubbo would ever follow someone besides his family. Tommy couldn't believe that Tubbo wasn't being held hostage. Tommy couldn't believe that Tubbo chose someone other than him. Tommy couldn't believe that Tubbo had betrayed him.

It angered him, Eret's words. No matter how true they were, or could possibly be. It angered him that _he_ wasn't there for Tubbo, that he couldn't have dragged Tubbo with him and Wilbur when they had fled. It angered him that he couldn't go back and find Tubbo. 

It angered him that Eret and Bad were here helping when he could not be with his best friend. It angered him that he trusted Eret, just a little bit. He was so _annoyed_ that even though Phil and Techno and Wilbur were here, that he still missed the extension of his family, the emptiness that Tubbo filled. For although his older brothers were great, they didn't understand him like his best friend did. They weren't his age, didn't _see_ him. It wasn't their fault, they were just older and focused more on the harshness of life. Techno was gathering fame, Philza was exploring, Wilbur was creating nations - and Tommy just trailed along. 

Some part of him wanted to do his own thing. He hadn't told the people that Techno and Phil were his brothers for a reason, and when the _famous musician Wilbur Soot_ had come along, he'd told his older brother to not mention the two eldest.

He bragged about a lot of things, but not that. He wanted his own fame, his own glory. He wanted his own name to be written down in the history books because of the cool shit he'd pulled off, not because he was the younger brother of the longest-surviving Hardcore player - a land that was full of monsters that Phil had been trapped in for nearly four years - not because he was the younger brother of the greatest swordsman to ever exist - Technoblade the legend, with his pink hair and red cloak and monotone voice - and not because of Wilbur Soot, the musician who had a way with words like no other, who had led a revolution and founded a country. 

He was his own person.

He just wished there was some way to prove it. 

He had nothing to do but watch as Wilbur and Phil and Eret and Techno argued over battle plans. 

Bad sat down next to him, the older man straightening his glasses. "So. Rebellion, huh?"

"Yeah," he muttered. 

"Sounds fun," Bad said with a small nod.

He doesn't know why he was so _angry_ , but he was, and the words left him before he could even control itself. "Yes, being stuck away in a hole without your best friend is fun. Fuck this."

"Language," Bad said sternly. Tommy blinked. He was surprised that that was the only thing that Bad said. "Look, Tommy, I know what you're thinking. I'm this twenty-five-year-old guy that says language a lot and does Manhunts with Dream." Tommy blinked again. He'd forgotten that Bad had been part of Dream's gang - the Muffinteers, or something stupid like that, before Dream had vanished after the war. "But I've been in your situation before."

"You have?" Tommy said, not even trying to hide the skepticism and surprise in his voice.

Bad smiled softly, his eyes clouding over as he washed into his own memories. "It's how I met Skeppy. The Idots SMP was created on the ashes of old SMP's long past. That area was a burial ground to battles and wars, Tommy. Skeppy and I met there shortly after two revolutions that ended in the toppling of our own countries - I'm sure you've heard of MunchyMC, haven't you?"

Tommy frowned. Of course, he had. There had been a pull in power and a two-seated democracy gone wrong. Lessons had been learned that day...but he hadn't known anybody had survived from Munchy besides Callahan, who now dwelled in the Dream SMP. "Of course I have." It was another endless history lesson that Techno had liked talking about back when they were together as a family. 

Bad beamed into the air fondly. "I was their leader, you know."

His jaw dropped. _No, no he hadn't known._

Bad - Bad was _the_ owner of Munchy? Had been the person who had made the grand speeches against his co-owner who had wished for absolute power? Had fought in the battle for the Chained Tombs, and had cut through the bonds that had held the souls to the ground. 'Course, those were all stories, they'd happened nearly half a dozen years ago...

"Are they true?" he asked. "Are the stories true?"

Bad nodded slowly. "Some of them. I was never much of a fighter. That was more Skeppy's thing." He smiled dimly at the mention of his friend. "He came from the ruins of InvadedLands after the Nether entered the overworld from a cist in the ground. He was the elected leader of that country before it fell and its people were forced to flee. Zelk was his second-in-command, and Mega his third."

Tommy blinked. "No - no way." The guy that had been the leader of InvadedLands had been serious and strong - Skeppy was none of those things. Skeppy was silly and ridiculous and made flirty jokes and had an obnoxious laugh - none of those were the signs of a leader.

"People change with time, Tommy," Bad said gently. "We are all very different people than we were six years ago."

"Skeppy was _fourteen_ and the leader of Invaded?" he said in a higher-pitched voice. 

"He was, yes."

"That's not possible." His voice was full of disbelief and he was not afraid to admit it. 

Bad shrugged. "That's simply how it was, Tommy. But my point is that I have fought in a revolution before. I lost that one, for many reasons. I believe that you guys can win this. I think you have a very good chance to. You, however, need to let go if you want L'Manburg back in your hands. Let go. You will die if you do not."

"I am _not_ letting go of Tubbo!" he said hotly. "He is my _best friend_ , and he's been by my side when my family wasn't. I trust him with my life." He was well aware that the conversation in the room had halted at his outburst, but he didn't care as he fought to withhold the influx of tears. 

"That's your problem," Bad said gently. "If you do not let go, then you will watch it all fall around you while you are unable to do anything but witness your family die."

"Tubbo _is_ my family." 

"So was Fundy."

"Fundy is a traitor," he spat.

"And what's the difference between Tubbo and Fundy's story in this war?" Bad said, raising an eyebrow.

Tommy couldn't find any words. He looked at Bad with a new light - where the lightheartedness had been, where the twinkle of the eye had been, there were only wisdom and grim determination. 

Really, there was no difference between the betrayal of Fundy and the betrayal of Tubbo. Fundy had burned the flag, Tubbo had burned the books. Fundy and Tubbo had taken Schlatt's side. They stood by him. Followed his orders. Listened to his every word.

Maybe Bad was right.

* * *

He felt his friendship with Tommy slip away more and more, and he grasped for it weakly, felt the chain slip through his fingers like spider silk drifting in the breeze. Felt the moments fall away like water into a depthless pit, and felt the strings snap as easily as torn paper, consumed like the books he had burned days before. 

He could not stand the ringing silence. He could not _stand_ the emptiness that forsook the air at the absence of his friends - of even Fundy, lost to the whims of Schlatt, to Niki and Jack, who were in Eret's castle, one unconscious and the other exhausted from all the medical work flowing in. 

He could see that he was drifting away, lost like a boat at sea. He tangled his fingers in his hair and tugged at the loose strands, watching as they drifted to the floor like the dust motes in the air. 

He sat in the corner in the suffocating silence and watched as the sun rose and set, as nobody came to check on him, as he glanced towards the door imagining Tommy come barging in with his newest stupid idea, ready to spend hours a day trying to convince a cow to walk into a house, or build a railway system, or annoy Dream by breaking into his house and leaving signs with incriminating and scandalous scrawls that Tubbo couldn't read - because, in the end, he was illiterate. 

The Declaration of War he had recovered from the van lay buried underneath the floorboards. Schlatt had torn L'Manburg apart for it, but hadn't thought to look at the underside of the docks that Tubbo had made for the shipments of food and shells and beautiful things from far-off countries. Hadn't thought that Tubbo, who had done everything for Schlatt, would betray him.

Tubbo had next to nothing. He had betrayed Schlatt - though the current president did not know it - and he had betrayed Tommy and Wilbur the moment that he had turned his backs on them and stood by the side of the dictator that now controlled L'Manburg, the country he had _fought_ for, _bled_ for, _died_ for.

 _No_ , he realized. He had not fought for L'Manburg until much later in the war. In the beginning, he had fought for Tommy and Wilbur, for his friends. Only later had he begun to realize what the country that he was bleeding for _meant_. Only later did he fight for L'Manburg. Only later did he become the Secretary of Defense for his country. Only later did he retain the ideals that Wilbur held so dear to his heart. 

And now...was he throwing that all away? Was he throwing that away because of the idle words he'd said, words he'd thought to last forever - for a government he didn't believe in, for a person he didn't like, for a nation that was causing him pain?

Was this really his life? 

Living like this, with bruises on his back and arms and bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, seeing visions of his friends together as a family once more?

He knew that it was over. He knew that there wasn't any going back. Even in the first war, he'd known there wasn't any _true_ going back, that since Purpled had sided with Dream, their conversations and arguments held a bit more bite, a bit more fire. But at least he'd had Tommy and Wilbur and Fundy and Eret and Jack then.

Now...now he was truly alone.

 _"Make it fall,"_ Schlatt had said. 

He had. 

Not only physically, by tearing down the walls, but by tearing the bonds between families. By forcing them to choose a side when they shouldn't _have_ to. By ripping everything he had ever loved in two. 

_"Make it fall."_

* * *

Eret left the battle plans to Techno and Wilbur and Phil, and bid goodbye to Tommy, who still eyed him warily, though there were tear stains on his face from his conversation with Bad that had ended with Tommy heading to bed and an angry conversation between the green-eyed boy and Tommy's brothers.

Eret had chosen not to partake in that one, not as Bad explained who he was, who the Idots were - refugees, leaders of lost countries, even. Eret had been shocked to find that the quiet man in front of him was the person that had stood in front of an army with Callahan, who had never mentioned Bad's name. He knew they were friends, but never to _this_ extent. Bad just never seemed like a leader-type.

Then again, legends were merely twisted tales. Skeppy did not seem like a leader at all, but he had been fourteen and leading InvadedLands until it had fallen to the ghasts and the piglins and the wither skeletons. He had managed to get people out of there, whereas MunchyMC had been overrun. 

No wonder Dream and George and Sapnap and Bad were so close. Dream and George had had leadership positions in Munchy, and had often told stories of their times there - Dream had been a war hero before the country had fallen. But he hadn't known that the leader had been _BadBoyHalo_.

He never could have guessed. Never would have guessed.

He supposed that was probably the point. 

He and Bad parted ways at the border, bidding goodbye to each other. Eret headed back to his castle, entering it just as the sun poked its first rays of light over the horizon, his rainbow flag fluttering briefly in the breeze. He peeked into his guest room and saw Jack fast asleep across his bed, the covers not pulled out and fully dressed in his revolution uniform. 

Niki moved when he entered the room, her arm in a splint and a bandage around her head, as well as some more he could see poking out from underneath the covers. Eret felt a bit of relief that she was awake and conscious as she sat up, yawning and then wincing as it pulled at the burn marks on her neck. "Eret?" she whispered.

"Hey," he said. "How are you?"

"Fine," she said. 

He didn't believe her. He'd asked out of courtesy, not because he'd wanted to. He knew how she felt.

She swallowed thickly, running a hand through the dyed parts of her hair. "Is it...is it gone?" 

He knew what she was talking about before she even opened her mouth to clarify. He had passed it when he'd been walking down the Primes Path - the lack of the walls had genuinely shaken him to the core. It had been silent - too silent. Usually, even at this time, _someone_ would be up, but the citizens were eerily quiet, and Tommy and Tubbo weren't racing through the Dream SMP like they sometimes did - nobody bothered them, even after the creation of L'Manburg when they technically weren't allowed to. 

He realized with a small pang that Tommy and Tubbo would never chase each other through the mess of houses and structures again. 

"Eret?"

He startled. "What? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, Niki. It's gone."

Her lips compressed into a thin line as she brought up her hands to stare at the bandages that encircled her wrists. He watched as a tear trickled down her face. "All my work...it's gone." He has nothing to say - so he is silent as he watches her stare at the wall with tears leaking from her eyes. "Is there anything left?"

"Yeah," he said, and she perks up at that. "I gave it to Wilbur."

Her mouth falls open. "You saw him?"

He gave a small, cautious nod. "I tracked him down while you were unconscious. The lot of them are fine." Niki breathed a bit easier at his words. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "And just between us...they have a certain older brother with them."

"You mean Te - "

He cut her off, not really surprised she'd known. She was closer to Wilbur than he'd ever been, after all - though that sentence, while true, left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Yeah. Him. Except I never said that. I was here with you the entire time, Niki." She frowned at him, confused, before understanding filled her gaze and she nodded. 


	7. Chapter 7

The first battle happened a week later. 

Well, it wasn't really a battle. Not really. Not for him. 

He'd been scouting. He wasn't' supposed to be scouting, but he was - and he was hoping to get a glimpse of Tubbo at the same time, but there was no Tubbo, and the solemness and hostility hung in the air like smoke from a fire. Except this fire was Schlatt, and he had ruined their nation.

Sapnap and George had found him, and hadn't hesitated to attack. He'd parried them off, and had managed to get away, but not without painful injuries - one down his thigh, hindering his walk speed, and one across his back, from his right shoulder to the left of his waist. That one had been Sapnap - but he'd gotten revenge by stabbing George through his arm, which made Sapnap turn to his friend and allow Tommy to free.

He stumbled through the woods, his sword clutched in his hand. Blood stained his white shirt, and ran down his back and down his legs. His pants looked streaked with it, and every time he looked down, he grew slightly nauseous at the raindrops that ran down his pants, liquid swishing in his shoes. 

_ That was water. _

It wasn't water.

_ It's water, Tommy. _

It was blood. 

His blood.

He paused to rest against the tree, panting with the effort to not pass out. He'd been gone for five hours - surely his family realized that something was up. He'd told them that he was off on a walk, which they wouldn't have believed before this mess, but they certainly did now.

He spent a lot of time alone. A lot longer than Phil liked him spending alone. 

Techno had told him not to get close to L'Manburg. Techno had told him that it was dangerous.

He had known Techno was right, but he had wanted to see his best friend. Instead, all he had seen was chaos. He had seen the new flag that Fundy had raised, and he had seen Wilbur's son talking to Quackity - but he hadn't seen Tubbo.

He wanted to.

Tubbo meant everything to him. Tubbo was his best friend. Tubbo had been there when his brothers hadn't. Tubbo understood his shenanigans when his family could not - they were always older, he was the youngest by far. 

He couldn't believe that Tubbo had betrayed him. It simply wasn't possible. The boy was too clingy to betray him. 

The thought hurt as it ran through his brain. He couldn't stop himself from sinking to the ground against a tree, shivering. It wasn't even cold, but he felt  _ cold _ , and he could just fall asleep and - 

He blinked, and then it was nighttime. He could see stars poking through the trees. 

_ Shit. Shit. _

He panicked. It had only been a bit after noon when he'd been ambushed by Sapnap and Geroge! Why was it nighttime.

Dried blood cracked as he moved his arms, more rivulets continuing down his arm. He stared down at his chest, frozen with horror. It was more red than it was white, now, and he winced at the pain of moving his shoulder blades. He leaned his head back against the tree and felt the tears trickle down his face. His head felt cloudy, and he wanted to sleep again - but he knew that if he fell asleep, he wouldn't wake up.

"Tommy!"

He raised his chin just a bit at the voice. He couldn't tell who it was. 

"Tommy!" 

The voice was louder now.

He licked his lips, trying to build up the strength to form words. His throat felt thick, inflamed, and he could not move his mouth enough to shout back at his brother. 

Wilbur. It was Wilbur. 

He heard the crunch of leaves as Wilbur stepped into view, his face illuminated by the moonlight, relief evident as he spotted Tommy.

"Oh, thank goodness - what the  _ fuck _ ?"

His vision faded.

When he next awoke, people were arguing, and there was the feeling of cool metal below him from where he lay on his chest and a warm softness on his back. 

" - I  _ told  _ him not to go out there, and clearly he didn't listen to me!" That was Techno.

"It's  _ Tommy _ . He doesn't listen to anybody." 

"Except you."

"Rarely! You know Tommy - "

"I don't, actually."

"Maybe he was right, then. Maybe this  _ is  _ your fault. Maybe you should have been there for him."

" _ You  _ let him fight."

"He makes his own decisions!"

"He has the worst decision-making skills in the entire world! You know this, Wilbur - we  _ all  _ know this."

"Would you two  _ stop arguing _ ?" Phil hissed. "Please, for the love of God? I'm trying to concentrate here."

There's a pull of pain on his back, and Tommy's eyes fly open. For a split second, he sees Phil's worried face, his blood-covered hands, he sees Wilbur and Techno glaring at each other - 

And then he screams in mind-shattering pain as something tugs at his body, and he sees nothing at all. 

* * *

Tubbo felt sick as he scoured the woods, breathing sigh after sigh of relief that there was nothing in the forest but a few spots of blood. He'd been itching to get there after George and Sapnap had returned, boasting about defeating Tommy, about  _ hurting his friend _ \- he reminded himself that losing his cool would do absolutely nothing here. He reminded himself that he was supposed to be looking for - for a body. That's what he was looking for. The longer he spent not finding one, the more likely it was that Tommy was alive and well. Well, maybe not  _ well _ . Sapnap and George had just said that they'd injured him - not that they'd taken his head off or anything. 

He missed how it used to be. Even during the first Revolution, he hadn't felt this alone. He'd had Tommy and Wilbur and Fundy - and briefly, Eret. He'd been able to talk to people who cared.

Now he just sank in blackness all alone. He was drowning in the air, in the sunny skies and the puffy clouds, in the lack of laughter in his own friends. He never saw anyone anymore - anyone Niki, despite Schlatt demanding her back into the country, stayed with Eret for 'health reasons'. Tubbo had seen the wounds on her from the fires, and they hadn't looked very pretty - even he had to admit that it was probably a good idea for her to stay away for a bit. Fundy was better off, but the former L'Manburgian still had burn marks on his arm.

Tubbo didn't see Eret much except when the man was seen at the border of the DreamSMP. When he was caught, he talked about visiting the IdotsSMP, in the same cool voice he'd used when he betrayed L'Manburg in the first revolution. 

Tubbo didn't much like being alone.

He signed papers for Schlatt, and he found books in places they shouldn't be - histories, written excerpts by Tommy, Wilbur, Niki - even himself, about L'Manburg. He found Wilbur's diary, but didn't open it - just put them in the secret library in the bunker behind his enchantment table. They lay untouched on lecterns that he hoped would remain hidden forever - would succeed Schlatt's reign and provide the finders the story, the untwisted fable of what L'Manburg  _ really  _ was, and for his best friend's sacrifices to not go forgotten. 

He sat in his room in the docks and he felt alone, so when the moon was high he would take his blankets and he would walk across the path to the embassy and feel less alone in a place that had given him so much comfort during the war.

He knew that L'Manburg would never be the same again, but he wondered if he would ever be in the same standing as Tommy. He wondered if they would ever be considered friends again. He wondered if he would sit on the bench outside Tommy's house and stare at the sunset with Mellohi playing in the background, talking about stupid things and cracking jokes like teenagers should. 

He wondered how a kid like himself had gotten into this war.

* * *

Eret panicked when he didn't find Niki in her bed the next day. The sheets were, as usual, pristine and perfectly in place, as they were every morning - but the girl in question was nowhere to be found, and it was nearly midday. He had no way to contact her - one because her communicator was broken - and two because everyone's communicators seemed to not be working. Which meant the only way of contacting someone was talking to them.

And Eret did not like talking to potential enemies. Not in person, at least. He was good with a sword, but he had always let battle come to him. 

"Do you know where Niki is?" He asked Jack.

"No, sorry," Jack said. He adjusted his 3D glasses. Eret didn't understand how he could stand to see through those things. "Is she missing?"

"Yes," Eret said, gradually becoming more and more worried. He left his castle after giving another brief look around, his walk breaking into a jog as he headed towards the community at the house in the center of the lake. He bumped into Purpled there. "Have you seen Niki?"

Purpled blinked up at him sleepily, and Eret was once again reminded that he was yet another teenager in a warzone - though, luckily, he was neutral, unlike Tommy and Tubbo, who were always in direct line of fire. "Yeah, she was heading towards L'manburg - I mean Manburg."

"You can call it L'manburg," he said, and Purpled gave a weak smile, fear entering his eyes. "And thanks."

If Niki was going to L'manburg...that couldn't be good. For her, for Schlatt, for  _ anyone _ . Niki may seem like a calm soul, but she was much like the soulsand that sprinkled the Nether. Still and silent - but the moment it went alight; it burned forever. 

Because of the emptiness that hung in the sky, and because of the clear early-morning air, he smelled the flag burning far before he saw it.

The black and orange awfulness that Fundy had constructed had always made a burning hatred for the orange-haired man start in Eret's chest. They'd always been at ends with each other - he'd thought he'd made his amends. But Fundy had sided with Schlatt and Eret had not - Eret had sided with the people whom he had betrayed. 

He didn't hate them. He felt like they were the missing piece of him he'd torn out when he'd taken power over them. He wished he could go back.

But he stood on top of the hill overlooking  _ Manburg _ and watched the two figures standing on top of the platform balancing on the burning flag. 


	8. Niki's Interlude

Smoke wafted in her nostrils, and Niki watched as the flint and steel she had used to set the flag on fire fell off the edge from where she'd toed it off.

"Nowhere to go," Quackity said.

"I could say the same for you," she said, with cool anger. Quackity looked frightened by her tone - and pride filled her. She had always been the sweet one - much like Tubbo, though it was well-known that Tubbo could go crazy sometimes. 

She'd snapped the moment that Schlatt had banished her friends and had ruined the country she had fought for. 

Under them, the flag burned, the metal underneath her boots growing hotter. The metal groaned, and Niki reached out a hand to grasp at the railing - the only railing, on the left side of the flag. Hundreds of feet of freefall and fire awaited her if she fell. Freefall and fire and death. Quackity blocked her only exit to the ladder that went down the very-burnable wooden pole. 

Her flag had once stood here.  _ This  _ had been her comfort place to go when she wanted her peace - when she was able to look down on L'manburg and see the chaos far below. Her flag,  _ her  _ creation that Schlatt had torn down. 

Fundy had betrayed her, and while her reaction may have not been as exhibited as perhaps Tommy or Wilbur's would have been, it was  _ there _ , and it hurt. 

"Traitor," Quackity hissed, his own hand shooting out to grasp at the railing as the flag shook, fire licking at the pole that held the entire thing up.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this here," came a familiar voice, and rage overtook Niki as she saw Fundy poke his head up the ladder. 

"YOU!" she howled, and it took everything in her to not shove by Quackity and leap at her former running-mate. 

Fundy looked a bit taken aback at the violence in her voice, but he climbed up fully. "Guys...the flag is burning under us. Why don't we have this conversation at a later time?"

Quackity whirled on Fundy. "Chill out, man. We're fine."

"No...we're not," Fundy said. "Please? Have this conversation later."

"No, I don't think I will," Quackity said, anger gleaming in his eyes as he stalked towards Niki, making her back up further towards the edge of the metal board that topped the flag. 

"G-guys?" Fundy called, as Niki's heel hit the edge and her hand flashed out to grasp the railing. She panted slightly, glancing down. There were figures in L'manburg - she swore she saw Eret running towards them.

_ Too late,  _ she thought grimly. She didn't like Quackity's look in his eyes either.  _ Is this where I die? _

The metal shuddered, and Niki cried out, flames unfurling around her as she lost her balance and tumbled over the edge, one of her hands  _ just  _ managing to clutch onto the ledge, her legs swinging over the falling expanse of burning fabric. He scrambled for purchase, but the sudden pain on her fingers made her freeze as she glanced up at the triumphant boot that stood over her fingers, applying pressure. She cried out in pain, wanting,  _ almost letting go _ \- 

There was nobody there to help her.

Except - 

A blur of orange, and the pressure was released from Niki's fingertips. Quackity shouted in surprise, and then tumbled over the edge, having not paid attention to the person behind him. Niki's jaw dropped in surprise as she saw Fundy having pushed Quackity - and then the former grabbing the jacket of the orange-haired man and dragging him over the edge as well. 

She shouted as they fell, and she could've sworn that Fundy turned and looked up at her before he disappeared into the fire. She closed her eyes and let a single tear fall down her face before swinging up her other hand up and grasping the metal edge, feeling the hot metal dig into her skin. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself up, only to feel the pole holding up what remained of the flag heave around her. Her hands were shaking as she steadied herself, running down the length of metal and screeching to a halt when she saw the burnt remains of the ladder. 

She was trapped. 

Fire crackled on the wooden pole, and Niki's arm shot out and grasped the metal bar, wincing at the heat that was coming from it. Fear filled her - was she going to die up here?

Her eyes scanned the surroundings, and she saw a bit of water - but it was so far away -

The structure heaved, and Niki shouted as it fell. Scrambling to her feet, she ran the remaining length of the metal as it slowly began its fall towards the earth. She screamed as her foot left the metal and she began her freefall, aiming her body desperately towards the lake beside the remnants of the van. She closed her eyes and spun her body, putting her legs off.

It hurt, crashing into the water. But she managed it, and she watched from under the surface as the fiery remains of the flag crashed around her. Niki swam towards the surface, feeling the pull of her waterlogged clothes around her as she moved towards the surface, letting out a gasp of old air. Her hair seemed to singe as she hit the surface, despite still being wet - the fiery remains of the flag lay around her. 

She swam to the lakeside and drew herself out of the water, shedding her purple coat with a small sigh. 

Glancing around, she saw small movements outside the fire. Maybe there was shouting - she couldn't tell.

And then there was Fundy.

She saw him, on the ground, lying there, and ran over to him. As much as he had betrayed her, she still thought of him as her friend.

He looked terrible. Burns and blood and missing hair and patches of burnt skin - Niki knew instantly that he wouldn't survive.

"Fundy," she sobbed.

"Niki," he breathed out.

She reached over and grasped his hand, wincing at the blood that got all over her shaking digits. That wasn't  _ important _ , because Fundy was dying - "Why?" she choked out. "Why did you do that?"

There was a breath of silence, and Niki opened her eyes. He was looking at her with faded eyes - the life wasn't gone yet. Close, so  _ close _ , and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Nothing at all but holding his hand as he left. 

"Because," he said after a moment. "Niki - I - I realized that - I - was w-wrong." His voice broke off, but not from emotion. "T-that Schlatt is a - a t-tyrant." Niki felt the tears slide down her face as he reached up his other hand - the one that she wasn't clutching tightly - and put it on his chest. So slowly. Slow as his chest rose and fell, despite the fires raging around them. She almost forgot about the heat, about the ash - about the people that screamed on the outside. "T-this is - for - whoever needs it, N-Niki." 

She watched as he drew out a music disc from his coat pocket - a music disk with purple and white dashes around the center. "Mellohi?" she gasped out.

A small nod, barely there at all. "For you," he said, in a voice so small it was barely audible. Niki had to lean in to hear. "D-Dream gave it t-to me. A-after the - the war." 

She didn't understand. Why hadn't he just given it back to Tommy? Everyone knew how much those discs meant to the boy. She grasped it with her free hand, and the hand that had been holding it fell limp onto the ground.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Niki..." he whispered.

And then he was gone, his mouth falling open - words that would never be spoken hanging in his throat, his eyes staring into the blue sky obscured by the smoke. 

Niki screamed, surprised that Mellohi didn't break from the strength at which she was holding it. She lowered her head and pressed it to the no-longer rise and fall of Fundy's chest. 

Stopped, when she saw the small wisp of smoke - no, not  _ smoke _ , it was glowing - escape from Fundy's mouth and watched as it flew towards the disk in her hand. Settled in the purple and white ring. Glowed for a second and vanished. 

"NIKI!"

She jumped to her feet, reaching for a knife that wasn't there, and breathed a sigh of relief that it was only Eret, crownless and cloakless and bearing a soot-covered shirt. "Eret," she whispered, tiredness filling her at his presence. Her knees shook, threatening to buckle. "Eret," she said again. 

He was at her side in an instant, helping her to her feet - supporting her. There was a second that he hesitated as he looked down at Fundy, sadness, and sorrow in his eyes. He snapped out of it quickly, though, though she swore that a single tear slid down his cheek - could have been smoke inhalation. 

"Niki, you have to get out of here," he told her.

She blinked up at him. "W-what?"

"You have to go," he told her, grasping her firmly by her shoulders. "They will kill you if they catch you, Niki. I'll try to hold them off - but you need to  _ run _ ." 

"I - " she said. "To Wilbur?"

He shook his head. "Not to Pogtopia." So that was the name. "Not to the IdotsSMP. That's the first place they'll look." Hesitation. "Niki, you will be blamed directly for the death of two of Schlatt's cabinet."

Panic filled her. "Eret, I swear I didn't mean to - Fundy pushed Quackity off - "

Soft eyes met her panicked ones. "I'm glad he redeemed himself in the end," Eret said finally, a tinge of sadness traceable in his tone. "But you will be blamed, and I won't be able to do anything, so you need to  _ run _ . They will go after you before they go after Tommy and Wilbur because of the deaths held responsible."

"No - " she gasped.

"Yes," he said. "You cannot lead them to Wilbur and Tommy, and you cannot draw the IdotsSMP into this war if they do not wish to be here."

The fire raged around them, burning lower, and she licked her lips. "Where?" she managed.

"Don't tell me," he said. "I don't want to know. I can claim my innocence in this. Just -  _ go _ , Niki. And do not come back."

"But - "

"GO!" he all but screamed, directing her towards a path that was only smoldering ash. "I will tell them you are dead. I'll find you one day, Niki - okay? If we survive this. I'll bring you back. You'll get to see everyone again."

"What if you - " she couldn't finish that thought.

"Then come back," he whispered. "But you need to get yourself - and Mellohi - out of here. The communicators aren't working anymore - you don't have one anyway, but I can't contact you or anyone. If I don't come find you in three years, come back. But know that if I am not around in three years, then something has gone horribly wrong."

"What's so important about Mellohi?" she yelled, gripping it tighter in her hand, suddenly afraid to drop it. Wasn't it just a stupid music disc? 

He pushed her towards the gap in the fire. "GO!"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and ran, leaving the king to wait in the settling ash and soot of her former home.


	9. Chapter 9

_ Flashes. _

_ Flashes of a boy in a box - Tubbo - that was Tubbo, there. A man laughing in the background; fireworks and explosions and the terrified scream of his best friend. _

_ Blood. Blood and desperation tinging the air. Desperation and tears and screams.  _

_ Fire. Flags falling.  _

_ A sword. _

_ A cup. _

_ A man with a grin on his face and two ram horns. _

_ Schlatt, that was Schlatt. _

_ Wilbur, standing in front of a button.  _

_ A festival - was that L'manburg? Why was there a festival going on? _

_ Him, punching at Techno in a small cave inside Pogtopia. Wilbur, a maniacal grin on his face. Wilbur, TNT in his hand and Dream standing behind him, a fuse in his hand.  _

**_ Was this the future? _ **

_ Eret, dead. _

_ Niki, gone.  _

_ Tubbo, dying. _

_ Wilbur, laughing. _

Tommy gasped as he sat up, his head ringing, the fading memories of the dream fading into his mind. Wilbur - Wilbur had gone crazy. Tubbo - Tubbo was hurt, captured,  _ injured _ \- 

It was a dream.

But what if it were real?

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and gasped when he felt pain resonate throughout his body. He could see bandages around his leg and chest - he wasn't wearing a shirt; just - was that Phil's jacket. He tugged the massive thing further around himself, encompassing himself in its warmth. 

It was just a dream.

...right?

It was quiet in Pogtopia. The others were probably out getting food or something. He stumbled out of the room, wincing in pain as his bare feet touched the cold stone. There wasn't anybody in the room - nor in the sitting room, which was right outside his bedroom.

He paused for a second, at the doorway leading out of the sitting room. He wanted to find Phil and Wilbur and Techno - but there was something. 

Something else. 

His head turned towards the small radio that was propped on a ledge of stone. Their communicators had stopped working a while ago; and they'd been using the radio to listen to Schlatt's presidential speeches.

In his heart, he knew there wasn't one scheduled for today - not unless he'd been out of it for nearly a month, and he doubted that.

Yet something told him to turn on the radio and switch to the presidential station. Something made his hand turn the knob until there was radio silence. 

Something made him sit down and listen to the crackling of the speakers. Something told him to wait. Something told him to sit with his legs crossed and Phil's jacket pulled around him and  _ wait _ .

_ Why am I even doing this?  _ he chided himself after five minutes of waiting.  _ This is stupid. _

He moved to get up, despite every inch of him screaming to sit and wait. He put his hand by the knob - but an unusual crackle stopped him in his tracks.

_ "This meeting has been called by Schlatt's Emergency cabinet after the unfortunate events that occurred in Manburg today."  _

Tommy wasn't even mad that they'd called it Manburg. More...he was worried. Worried because the voice that came across the air was Punz and not Fundy - worried because he knew something was dangerously wrong.

"Tommy?"

He spun to see Wilbur standing in the doorway.

"You're awake!" Wilbur said joyously.

Tommy couldn't bring himself to crack a smile as he glanced back down at the radio.

"What are you doing?" Phil asked, walking into the room after Wilbur. "There isn't supposed to be a speech today - " he paused.

_ "Citizens of Manburg - and citizens from neighboring countries,"  _ Schlatt said, and Tommy didn't like that voice; but he had to listen, slapping Wilbur's hand away as his older brother moved to turn off the radio.  _ "We are gathered beside our radios today to discuss the events that went on in my great country today." _

"Fucker," Wilbur muttered. Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Techno slide into the room, silent as ever.

_ "Today is a sad day for our nation. Today I am bitter to announce the deaths of two of my esteemed cabinet members." _

Time seemed to pause. Tommy's jaw fell open, and Wilbur stumbled back, muttering things under his breath - something along the lines of  _ please, no, please - _

_ Don't be Tubbo, don't be Tubbo, don't be Tubbo - _

_ "Quackity, my right-hand man, and Fundy, my - " _

Tommy missed the rest of the words as he let out a sigh of relief - and then immediately felt horrible as Wilbur let out a loud scream of internalized pain. His older brother would have fallen, but Phil caught him, muttering things under his breath that was meant only for Wilbur.

Fundy - Fundy was dead. A pang ran through his heart for what was essentially his nephew, though it had never felt like it. He didn't really care about Quackity - he  _ did _ , but not the extent of his family. He felt awful knowing that relief was coursing through his veins at the knowledge that Tubbo wasn't dead. 

_ "They died trying to apprehend a known rebellion supporter, Nihachu - or Niki, as her friends would have called her."  _ There was a distinct sneer in the voice, despite Tommy not seeing Schlatt face-to-face.  _ "While Fundy and Quackity are dead, and flag that we worked so hard to built was burned, I cannot say that our efforts were not in vain. Nihachu was killed trying to escape from Manburg - and I can't say I am sad to see her go." _

Tommy's jaw dropped even farther, and Wilbur let out another small scream, tears pouring down his face. Tommy couldn't even imagine the pain that his older brother was going through - first his pseudo-son, and then one of his best friends - this was all Schlatt's fault.

If not for Schlatt, none of this would have happened. 

He felt the tears form steadily down his cheeks. Maybe not for Fundy - Fundy technically betrayed him - but for Niki. She had been sweet and passionate and loving and caring and like an older sister to him.

"They've got to be lying," Phil said, holding Wilbur close to him, and looking up at Techno. 

The pink-haired man shook his head slowly. "I don't think Schlatt would lie about this. That's not something he would do."

_ "Someone must be blamed for this." _

The final words before it cut off made Tommy go still.

Just as he knew that he had to turn on the radio, he knew that something was going to go worse. Worse than it already was. Worse than he could possibly think it to be.

He slipped out of the room when nobody was looking and shed Phil's coat, pulling on one of his extra shirts - blue instead of red; but it would do - grabbed his sword, and left Pogtopia.

Something was going to go wrong. He could feel it in his gut, in his very bones.

Something was about to happen.

* * *

Of course he would be blamed for this.

Of course Schlatt knew the entire time. 

Of course Tommy came to save him.

Of course it had to end like this. 

Of course Eret, the stupid fool he was, had to come to try to rescue them both.

And so this was how it was doomed to end, wasn't it?

All of that...for nothing.

That stupid tea that he had drunken because he was a fool and hadn't though tot realize that Schlatt was  _ scared  _ of Tommy, that he was scared of the boy who had Technoblade to train him in the way of the sword - that he wouldn't try to stab Tommy, that there were other means to kill someone.

That he was fading because of that stupid poison and Tommy lay slumped on the wall next to him, his head on the taller boy's shoulder. There was haziness around him - he didn't have the strength to lift a finger to call for help to the man who was dying across the room. 

Schlatt had come after a call came in saying that Wilbur and the rest wanted to talk to him. There was joy in his heart after he heard Phil was with them, Phil and Techno - but he knew that it was too late to save him and Tommy.

What fools they had been, to trust their enemy with their drinks.

What utter, miserable fools. 

"Tommy," he whispered, his voice so broken that he could barely feel it in his throat. "Tommy, I'm scared." 

And he was.

And as he faded, he heard the words that comforted him to the very bitter end.

"I'll see you soon, Tubbo," Tommy whispered in his ear. "I promise." 

* * *

He'd tried, he really had. 

He'd watched Tommy come for negotiations - and like the fool he was, he'd allowed Tommy to walk into the White House, alone, with Schlatt. Tubbo was in there as well - no doubt blamed for the crimes that Niki and Fundy had committed.

The music disc in his shirt pocket felt heavier with each step he'd taken further into the White House. He'd known what he was doing - what he was going to die trying to do. He had his sword, but Ponk and Punz and George and Sapnap - they were all there, and he had nobody to back him up. He had himself, once more. All himself. 

But he'd opened the door and seen Tommy and Tubbo lying against the wall. The opposite door leading out of the negotiation room was open - no doubt Schlatt had left that way. Eret had run to the two boys, but there was nothing he could do as he saw Tubbo murmur something so quietly that it was barely audible. He saw Tommy say something in response, and then the brown-haired boy was gone, and Eret knew in his heart that the taller boy would be gone too.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, smashing the two teacups to shattered porcelain in his hands. Fragile, small - the deaths of two mere children. Tears ran down his face. "I'm so sorry, Tommy." 

"S'okay," Tommy muttered, his words slurring. "Tell them - tell them I'm sorry, m'kay? Maybe I shouldn'ta ran off, hmm?" A small gasp. "But then Tubbs woulda died alone." Crystalline teal eyes met Eret's silver. "Tell them I love - "

His words faded, and Eret let out a loud sob - just as pain blossomed in his chest, and he looked down to see the arrow protruding from his ribcage. He had time to look over his shoulder to see Sapnap standing there, a fierce expression on his face, before he slumped to the ground, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Traitor," Sapnap hissed, holstering his crossbow. 

And then he was gone.

And Eret was left, dying, with a poisoned bold near his heart and two children who had died for naught, and the  _ want  _ to move, to deliver Tommy's final words to his brothers - fuck the negotiations, Schlatt had done something that even Dream had refused to do. 

Two sets of harried footsteps pounded in his ears, and he groaned as he was hauled into someone's lap, and he was staring into bright green eyes - green eyes that were familiar, though he had never seen them before. Green eyes, blonde hair - there should have been a mask - 

Niki was screaming.

"I told you to leave," he mumbled. "Told you to go, Niki."

"Who did this?" Dream hissed - and  _ yes _ , that was Dream, sans his mask - why? Why, Eret didn't know. 

"...Schlatt and Sapnap and George," he murmured, and he saw a single teardrop fall from Dream's eyes. "S'okay, Niki. Not your fault."

"I should have been here," the girl sobbed, warmth encompassing his cold hand. "Should have been here to save you."

"Jacket pocket," Eret croaked, and Dream was there, undoing the buckles to reveal the music disc  _ Cat _ . "Tommy 'n Tubbo. Niki."

'What?" Niki asked, her voice breaking halfway through as her wet tears fell onto Eret's hand. 

"I will," Dream said, his green eyes looking blurry - nay, everything looked blurry, now. "I promise, Eret. For Tubbo and Tommy, promise."

He remembered, then.

"Tommy told you to - " he coughed, and felt the blood flow back down his throat. "Tommy said to tell his brothers he loved them."

Niki sobbed harder, her voice muffled as she clamped a hand over her mouth to stop her shaky sobs, and Dream showed emotion, then - closing his eyes and holding the green disc in his hand and crying, without his mask and his barriers and being simply human and crying for his friend. 

"I'm sorry, Eret," Dream said.

"I'm sorry too," he whispered.

There was a pink flamingo floating in the blackness of his eyes. She called to him and he answered and he told her  _ yes _ , and she nodded and did what the orange fox had done before - flew into the ancient relic that was clutched by his friend. 

And then he was floating through the darkness towards the light and he was sure that there was someone waiting on the other side for him - another traitor, who had redeemed himself in the end. 


	10. Dream's Interlude

He left the girl in the forest with a pack and the two discs and directions to the place that she needed to be at before he grabbed his sword and went to break the Dream Team forever.

Not before lying Tommy and Tubbo - hand in hand, as they had died - and Eret in the grass outside the White House, letting their bodies see the sun one final time before they were buried. 

Not before shattering his porcelain mask outside the White House in the entry hall and letting the shards of the white and black china sit there, hopefully forever.

Not before staring down at the ruins of L'manburg - at what had once been a beautiful place; gone forever. Wilbur's creation - burned at the hands of his friends.

Were they?

As much as he loved George and Sapnap, they had stood by and let Tommy and Tubbo die - had  _ allowed it _ . He had seen the arrow in Eret's chest, had  _ known  _ that Sapnap had shot that bolt into the ribs of the person who had been trying to save two children. 

He knew his goal - dreaded it, but knew it all the same. He lay in the grass watching Schlatt, Ponk, Punz, George, and Sapnap talk to Techno, Wilbur, and Phil.

It hurt knowing that the rest were dead. That everyone that wasn't save Niki and Purpled were gone. That Tommy had come to save his best friend and failed - hadn't even died in battle, but to the hands of someone who didn't deserve the power he held.

He held the small dark blue pearl in his hand and stared at it. It stared back, challenging him -  _ daring  _ him to end a friendship that had been the best moments of his life.

But he knew what was right. 

That he could never forgive Sapnap and George for hurting - hurting and  _ killing  _ \- people that he had considered his friends.

He took another breath and threw the portal, squeezing his eyes shut and appearing in the center of both parties in a blur of purple particles.

Techno reached for his sword.

Dream flung a hand up to the pink-haired man, telling him to stop. Techno stopped - because a part of him trusted Dream, considered him a friend.

"Dream, your mask - " George warned.

"Dream?" Wilbur whispered, squinting at him - at the green eyes and freckles that were seen by this group of people for the first time. There was confusion reigning in everyone's face. 

"I know," he said evenly. "I took it off on purpose."

Schlatt ignored his words. "Ah, come to join us, Dream?"

He sneered in the direction of the dictator. "As  _ if _ ."

Sapnap froze. "Dream - "

"I put on that mask the day the Dream Team was created, and I took it off the moment that the Dream Team was destroyed," Dream said frostily, his hand holding his sword itching for movement, for blood. 

"But we're still here, Dream," George said carefully, adjusting his black and white goggles. "We're still here."

"I wish you weren't," he said truthfully, his voice full of regret. "It would make this battle far easier."

Schlatt laughed in surprise. "You're joining  _ them _ ?" he said. " _ Them _ ? They'll never accept you, Dream."

"I don't want acceptance," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the mistrusting eyes of Wilbur Soot and the fierce glare of Philza, who unbeknownst to him, had just lost a son. "I want to do what's right." He raised his chin. "Schlatt, you murdered them."

Schlatt laughed carelessly. "Who? Fundy and Quackity? Niki did that, serves her right - "

"Niki is alive," he said, cutting clean through the man's words. "But she's gone from this place now. I sent her away because she has a journey far more important than this pitiful fight you pretend you are going to have." Wilbur made a small noise of hope and surprise. "As for Fundy...well, I'll have you know that he was the one that killed Quackity in the end."

Schlatt snorted. "Eret, always the traitor. Me and him are gonna have a talk after this pitiful rebellion to expect to hold." 

"But I wasn't talking about them," he said carefully. "I wasn't even talking about Eret, though he is dead as well."

"What?" Wilbur whispered. 

"No," he said. "I was talking about the children you killed, Schlatt." Schlatt's eyes widened, and he reached for his sword, drawing it out. "CHILDREN, SCHLATT!" his voice raised higher and higher as he screamed at the people that had murdered his family. "YOU KILLED THEM!"

"I did nothing of that sort," Schlatt said, his silver lies rolling so easily off the tongue that nobody knew what to believe. 

"I am many things, Schlatt," Dream said coldly. "A tyrant, maybe. A friend - once. A leader, definitely. But if you knew me, then a liar is not one of those things. And you killed Tommy and Tubbo, and I found them, dead in  _ your  _ office, by  _ your  _ hands."

"No," Philza whispered, the voice of a broken father; a broken man. "No..."

"And if George and Sapnap will stand in the way of a family enacting their revenge, then I will let it happen," he said, seeing the fear in the eyes of his friends. "Because the Dream Team is over, and I  _ hate  _ you, Sapnap, I really do. I hate you because you killed Eret, and I hate both of you for standing by and letting two sixteen-year-olds die in each other's arms, because all they were was friends. And that's what they were to the very bitter end, but that's not what  _ we  _ are, Sapnap - George." His heart hurt more with every word he said, but he knew that he was right. "You deserve what you get, you know."

"You tried to kill Tommy too!" Schlatt said, backpedaling.

Dream threw out an arm as Techno begin to creep forward, murder and malice in his eyes. "If I had tried to kill Tommy, he would be dead. I did what I thought was right, and I realize now it wasn't, which is why I left. I thought that by leaving that everything would get better - that the war would end, forever. I see now that maybe I should have stayed. And maybe everyone would still be alive."

"Are they really gone?" Wilbur whispered; a whisper of a broken older brother who couldn't protect his sibling. 

"Yes," Dream said, and he wasn't happy that he had to tell them this - but there was nobody else. Nobody left. "Eret tried to protect them, but he died too. He said to tell you that Tommy said he loved you."

"MURDERER!" Philza screamed, drawing his sword, rage, and hatred so visible on his face that everyone in the other party took a step back. 

Despite the sheer outnumbering that Schlatt had, Dream only flipped his sword and handed it to Techno, giving him a second one. Techno gave him a small look full of sadness and bitterness and ferocity before taking it, hefting it to feel the balance. 

Dream stepped back and let the family go to war.

He turned away, hearing the clash of swords and the shouts and yells, and felt the tears drip down his face.

Too late.

He was always too late. Too late to save his friends - and too late to stop his other friends from committing a crime that they would have to pay for.

Too late. 


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look this would have been published tomorrow but I lost another WHAT ARE THE ODDS AND I REALLY HATE THAT GAME

** Three years later **

In another world, another time, Eret and Fundy would be standing by her shoulder, perhaps laughing at her jokes. In another world, she wouldn't be kneeling by her graves of an overgrown and burned L'manburg, holding four halves of two broken discs and crying for her friends. 

In another world, Tommy and Tubbo would still be dead, and the ancient relics that Dream gave to her to bring them back would go unused, and she would be alone.

In another world, she would be lying bloodied and gone. 

There were so many possibilities - and this is the one she lives. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up with blurry eyes to see Tommy at her shoulder, a grin on his childish face. "Let's go home, Niki," he said to her.

She nodded and tucked Mellohi into Fundy's grave, and Cat into Eret's, half-burying them - knowing on the bad days she would be back, that she would visit this place again and make it better, that she would pick flowers for the graves and tidy it up until the day she tied.

She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her simple white tunic and leggings, and exchanged a small smile with Tubbo, who stood off to the side, looking between her and the graves of their two friends. 

"Let's go home," she echoed, squeezing her fist around the piece of crumpled paper that had lay hidden inside the hollow of her tree for three years; in Dream's handwriting, telling of a place that they had gone when they had left this place.

The coordinates of her family. Of Tommy's family.

She wished she'd gone home sooner. But when Dream had handed her Cat and Mellohi and told her why he had wanted them in the first place - because they could hold the life-souls; one in each disc. That they could give a life back that had been taken; and he had given them to  _ her  _ to raise Tommy and Tubbo from the dead.

She may have aged three years, but they have only aged six months, and Tubbo is seventeen, and Tommy nearly seventeen, but they are still bright-eyed and alive, and that is what is important. The hard days that Tubbo has to remain close to Tommy, curled in a ball - they get through those.

She wished she'd gone home sooner, but her quest had been an important one. Nobody else could have done it - she knew that. Dream had known that. 

And now it is time for them to go home.

So Niki shouldered her pack and followed the boys home; one of which has a flamingo tattoo across his back, and another a bounding fox - telling a story of two others; both traitors in their own right - and both redeemed, in the end. 

And in another world, the two look on and smile as the door to the house in the woods opens and a family is united once more. 

And in another country, a man with a broken mask cries over the graves of his two friends. 

A family is broken, and one is remade. Such is the price of war; of rebirth in itself. Such is the price of battle, of rebellion. 

The man with the broken mask looks up when he sees the girl and the two children, and he wipes his tears away and he welcomes them home. 

The warrior sets down his bloody sword and hugs his little brothers as they are found once more. 

The dreamer cries for the girl who brought everyone together again - who did what they thought was impossible.

The father has tears in his eyes as he looks over the children who have not aged the years and shows them the rooms that were built for them to stay had they come home.

The leader walks away from a broken grave and asks himself if he did the right thing in the end. 

Perhaps. Perhaps, with a grin tugging on his lips as he is welcomed into the house and laughs as the warrior makes a pointed joke and the taller boy laughs like they all remembered, and the shorter boy rambles on about things that are unimportant - and he is reminded by the choices he made, and the things he did for this to be the true ending. 

The Dream Team is gone, but another family is remade.

#  ** The End **


End file.
